


Company

by golari



Series: Company [1]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, I don't think you quite understand, POV Alternating, nerdy, no really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-21
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-02 14:59:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5252555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golari/pseuds/golari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’ve never minded eating alone (before.)</p><p>Or: Asami and Korra are both intelligent, just in different ways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You’ve never minded eating alone. You actually really like it. There’s no pressure to keep up conversation, and you’re able to read or draw or simply stare into space if that’s what you want to do. Plus, waiters are especially nice when you’re alone, even if they do sometimes give you a pitying look before taking your order.

You’ve found a restaurant down the street from the sustainable engineering conference you’re in town for. It’s 3:30, so you’ve avoided the lunch rush and the restaurant is actually pretty quiet. You take a seat at the bar. It’s rectangular, sitting in the middle of the restaurant, and from where you’re sitting you can look out past the bartender and see outside. The counter and chairs are metal, and when you lean your forearms against the bar you wish you’d brought something more than just your thin blazer. You order some random drink and it comes in a large martini glass with a ridiculous decoration of fruit. It’s strong though, so you couldn’t care less what you look like when you sip it. You get a hipster-y sort of salad with quinoa and a maple vinaigrette and pick at it while you scribble ideas and drawings in your notebook. As tiring as the conference is, it’s also inspiring and motivating and you’re excited to bring back what you’ve learned to Republic City. 

You’re thinking about an entirely solar powered car manufacturing plant, your eyes wandering around the room, when you see a woman sitting opposite you on the other side of the bar. She has a messy, brown bob and her skin is several shades darker than your own. She has a book open in front of her, and she’s taking a _huge_ bite out of her burger and wiping the corner of her mouth with a thumb. She’s entirely focused on her book, and occasionally she clicks a pen and hurriedly writes in the margins. You watch her for an embarrassing amount of time; you find it really endearing the way she alternates between taking absentminded bites and excitedly scribbling. She shoves a handful of fries in her mouth and lifts a hand to turn the page when her hand stalls, hovering above the book. She doesn’t move her head, but her eyes snap up to yours and you feel your face flush in embarrassment. Her eyes are wide and bright and so, _so_ blue. You give a sort of sheepish, polite smile and quickly look away, pretending to watch the sports show on the TV behind her. It takes several long moments of pretending to care about basketball before you’re brave enough to let your gaze slide over her on your way to look back at your notebook.

She’s still looking at you, and when you meet her eye she gives you a crooked smile. You can’t help but mirror it genuinely, if a bit shyly. Her eyes flick down to your chest and you frown a little until she looks down at her own and lifts up a badge hanging around her neck. You recognize the badge and lanyard as being from the same conference you’re attending. She gestures towards you with it like a question, and you look down at your own lanyard and badge. You pull it away from yourself a little to show her and nod in confirmation. She drops her own to settle back against her chest and returns your nod amicably. 

You’re still a little hot in the face, so you don’t hold her gaze for long before you look back down at your half eaten plate. You try to get yourself back into your head space, you really do, but after the distraction it’s hard to regrasp the thread of your thoughts. You take a long sip from your drink - the fruit bumping awkwardly against your mouth - and determinedly look anywhere but back across the bar. You tap your pencil against your open notebook in frustration and take halfhearted bites of your salad until you hear a gentle throat clearing at your side. 

It’s her, of course. She’s leaning forward slightly over the high-backed stool next to you, all crooked smile and bright eyes. She’s wearing a light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up and her lanyard is caught on one of the open buttons. She’s even more beautiful up close, and you _know_ you’re staring but you can’t help it. “My partner would kill me if she knew I didn’t take every opportunity to network so,” she extends her hand. “I’m Korra.”

You smile and meet her hand with your own. “Asami.”

“Nice to meet you, Asami. I can’t imagine why you would be here instead of back at the convention hall listening to the recycling lecture.” She rolls her eyes and you feel your grin widening.

“While I’m sure learning how to properly rip labels off of jars before recycling them is thrilling,” you gesture to your plate, “a girl’s gotta eat.”

She laughs, and her eyes sparkle. “My sentiments exactly!” She looks down at the chair she’s leaning against and fidgets a little and it’s _cute_. “May I?” she asks as she gestures to the chair.

“Oh! Yeah, of course!” you say with a little too much enthusiasm. You duck your head and hurriedly close your notebook, pushing your utensils to the side to clear space while she walks back to the other side of the bar to stuff her book into a bag and collect her plate and drink. 

She returns and flops down onto the barstool, and the metal joints give a small squeak. “Thanks.” There’s a moment of awkward silence before she asks, “So, what is it you do if not work for the EPA?”

She grins when you laugh genuinely. “I’m an engineer.”

“Environmental?”

“Mm, no, more mechanical.” She looks confused for a moment before you continue, “Oh, but I’m trying to bring sustainable practices to my company.”

She gives a wide smile. “That’s awesome.”

“Yeah…” You swirl the drink in your martini glass around a little and give her a sidelong glance. “What about you? I don’t think I’ve seen you during the engineering talks.”

“Ah, yeah, no. I’m an ecologist,” she smiles gently, “a nerd, even in the eyes of engineers.”

“Hey, I wear my nerd badge proudly, thank you very much.” You gesture to the lanyard around your neck.

She laughs again, and you decide to see how many more times you can make it happen because it’s quickly becoming one of your new favorite things. “Point taken.” After a moment she gestures to your notebook. “Working on some new ideas?”

You automatically set your hand on top of the cover of your notebook. She definitely notices the gesture and she quirks her head to the side a little. You don’t really like showing your rough design sketches; they’re pretty personal and you much prefer to flesh out your ideas and polish them before presenting them to anyone. But Korra is looking at you with kind, patient eyes and you suddenly find that you really _want_ to show her so before you can over think it you push the notebook towards her. Besides, you reason, her opinions are valuable from a conservationism perspective. You flip it open to the page you were working on. “I was thinking about an entirely renewable energy powered production factory.”

You bite your lip and watch her eyes roam all over the page, and you feel strangely exposed. She says nothing as she takes in your notes and designs, and every moment she spends analyzing makes you squirm more. After an eternity she lifts her eyes to yours. “Covering the roof in solar panels?”

“W-well...” You hesitate. You can’t help it. You’re more nervous than you’ve ever been before the board. “...yes?”

She looks thoughtful. “It could work, but they would have to cover the entire surface, not just the rows you have here.” She points to the page. “And you’d have a huge problem with storing all the energy, but I suppose that if you built it close to Ba Sing Se, you would have less rainy days to deal with.” Her eyes brighten a little. “That… could work, actually, since you would need a huge expanse of flat land. You could build it in the desert, and it wouldn’t be too difficult to keep from affecting the environment around the facilliityy…” She elongates the word and trails off once she looks up from your notebook and back at you. 

Honestly, you’re a little stunned. You simply stare for a moment, and she looks uncomfortable. Finally, you find your voice. “Did you just legitimize the designs that I scribbled during my lunch?”

Her cheeks darken considerably and she looks a bit sheepish. You kind of want to hug her but you have the presence of mind to stop yourself. “Oh, well no, I’m not an expert on design or architecture or any of that stuff. I just got a little excited, it’s a cool idea.” 

You look back down at your notebook and reach behind you for your pencil. You slide the notebook back towards you and make notes on what she’d said while she watches you. You’re still writing when you muse, “The desert is a good idea, the flat land would make it perfect for wind turbines to help with the energy production.”

“What kind of factory would you like to build? Like, the size.”

“Big. Car production.” You continue to write, fitting notes wherever you can on the page.

After a long moment she asks quietly, “For Satomobiles?”

“Yeah,” you agree, without a second thought.

“Oh my god, you’re Asami _Sato_.” You glance up from your notebook to look at her and her eyes are wide in alarm. 

You blink at her for a moment and frown. “I- uh, yes?”

She stares with unfocused eyes at the bar counter in front of her, her fingers pressed above her furrowed brow. “Oh no,” she says breathlessly. “I’ve been flirting with Asami _Sato_.”

You smirk a little in amusement. “You were flirting with me?”

She shifts, instead leaning both elbows on the bar and covering her face with both hands. “Oh my _god_ ,” she mutters to herself. When she drops her hands her cheeks are dark and she grimaces. “Apparently not, no.”

You can’t help but tease her a little. “Do you always talk about sustainable design to pick up women?”

She sighs exaggeratedly, “Only when the woman is the famous CEO of a billion yuan company.”

You smile politely, but you’re honestly disappointed. It isn’t often that you’re able to talk shop with someone who doesn’t know who you are. In fact, it’s basically impossible. She seems to sense your shift in mood, however, because she timidly reaches towards you and places a hand on your notebook. “One nerd to another though, it really is a great idea. I’m appropriately impressed and intimidated, Asami Sato.”

You nod absentmindedly, thinking, but her chair scraping across the floor startles you back to the present. She places several yuans on the bar and starts to roll her sleeves down. You can’t help but watch her arms flex. “Better get back. It really was a pleasure meeting you. Flirting aside, this was a much more enjoyable meal than I expected.” She picks up her messenger bag and slings it over her shoulder and across her chest. “Maybe I’ll see you in there?”

You’re still a little startled by her abrupt exit and don’t respond right away. She looks a little awkward, lingering and waiting for you to say something. It’s when she’s pushing in her barstool that you stand and stop her by placing a hand on her arm. You definitely don’t notice how toned she is. “Korra, would you like to get lunch again tomorrow?” In the back of your mind you hear your assistant telling you about a lunch meeting already scheduled for tomorrow, but you wave the memory away. “Your notes were very helpful and I’d really like to talk more about it. If you’re free. If you want.”

The smile she gives you is so brilliant and huge that it lights up her entire face. You feel like you’re lost at sea. “I would really like that.”

“Great,” you manage to say.

“Great,” she echoes. You stare at each other stupidly for a moment before you turn and reach into your purse for your phone. 

“Can I have your number?” She recites it to you, and you dutifully type it into your phone. “I’ll text you.”

“Perfect. See you tomorrow!” She gives you a small wave before hurriedly ducking out of the restaurant.

“Bye…”

You’ve never minded eating alone, but maybe you could get used to a little company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time reader first time caller. I have some thoughts on how to continue this, if there is interest, but I think it works as a one-shot, so I’ll leave it at that for now. Thoughts appreciated!
> 
> Edit 12/15: Freshly beta'd by osmrice. :)
> 
> \--
> 
> EPA: Environmental Protection Agency. Let's just pretend the Avatar universe’s environmental department is named the same as the United States’.
> 
> Is Asami designing the Gigafactory?: Uh, yeah. Asami kind of seems like a more composed, less awkward Elon Musk sooo...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and her partner further their own projects.

You’ve always hated mornings. Like, really, _really_ hated them. There’s a solid two hours after you wake up when it feels like you’re walking through water and your eyes burn and everything _sucks_. But when you woke up this morning you found that you didn’t mind the sun creeping in through the curtains or the sound of housekeeping vacuuming in the next room as much as you normally would. Instead you wake up before your alarm and have time for a long, relaxing shower and you make it to the hotel lobby with time to spare.

Kuvira is obviously surprised to see you when she comes off the elevator. You’re sitting in one of the hotel’s plush suede chairs in the waiting area, sipping coffee that isn’t as bad as it was yesterday.

“What are you doing here?” she asks as she uses the dispenser to pump coffee into a styrofoam cup.

You cock an eyebrow at her. “We were supposed to meet at eight?”

“Yeah, but it’s actually” -she glances at her watch- “eight. What gives?”

You shrug. “Just excited for the last day, I guess.”

She obviously doesn’t believe you but she lets it go. “Okay, well, let’s make it count.” She pulls her phone out from her back pocket. “There’s a panel on electric car production at nine, then we’ll meet with Varrick.”

You groan loudly. “Do we have tooo? That guy freaks me out.”

Kuvira fixes you with a hard stare. “You haven’t dealt with him at all! I’ve set up everything.”

“Yeah but like, you’re way better at this than I am! He’s too intense,” you whine.

“You’re one to talk! You shouted at a teenager who threw a cigarette butt on the ground yesterday.”

“Oh c’mon, you know you would’ve too! That’s just rude and inconsiderate to like” -you gesture wildly with your arms- “the planet.”

Kuvira pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs deeply. “Korra, you’re the ecologist. If we’re going to get funding, you have to actually _talk_ to him at some point.”

You give Kuvira a sullen pout and yeah, maybe you take your time stretching and throwing away your empty cup while she watches you, but you know she’s right and she only has your best interests at heart, so you dutifully join her and leave the hotel. 

Unlike the last two days, you manage not to get lost on the way to the convention hall and you only argue with Kuvira once on which train to take. You’re gloating a little - you want to enjoy this victory while you can - when your phone buzzes and you probably give yourself whiplash with how fast you pull it out of your bag.

 **Unknown Number (8:49am):** Hey Korra it’s Asami. Are we still on for lunch today?

You’re tapping out a reply when you become aware that Kuvira is hovering _awfully_ close to you. You glance up at her. “Can I help you?”

“Waiting on that text long, have you?”

You grumble, “Shut up.” and resume typing. 

**ME!:** Yah totally what time

You look at it for a moment before erasing and replacing the sentence with something that you decide is more polite and professional while still being casual.

 **ME! (8:52am):** Yeah sure, what time would you like to get together?

It doesn’t take long for her to respond, and you know you’re being annoying, distractedly wandering after Kuvira while trying to text, but whatever, she can suck it.

 **Asami SATO (8:55am):** 1 at the same place?

Kuvira is leading you by the elbow through the auditorium - how you’d gotten there you’re not quite sure - and when you get to a row of seats towards the middle, she all but shoves you into a seat before more elegantly seating herself next to you. It takes you several minutes to compose five words that you hope don’t sound too desperate while simultaneously ignoring Kuvira’s heated glare.

 **ME! (8:59am):** See you then, can’t wait!

As soon as you hit send you cringe and wonder if the exclamation mark was too much but Kuvira grabs your phone and places it in her breast coat pocket and well, that’s the end of that.

The moderator, a man dressed in the uniform of an environmental nerd - untucked flannel and jeans - introduces the panelists and then begins to ask questions but you don’t hear a word of it because Asami is walking onto the stage and your head is filled with nothing but static. Maybe it’s just because she takes a seat next to a frumpy looking man from Cabbage Corp who would make even a raccoon look elegant in comparison, but Asami- Asami looks amazing. Her hair is up this time, tied back into a neat bun and she’s wearing a shawl and _damn_ you had no idea you were into shawls.

Kuvira elbows you gently and gives you a worried and confused look and you shake your head and give her what you hope is a reassuring smile. You try to stop staring, and you mostly manage, but your heart gives a small jump anytime Asami speaks. 

You didn’t really feel that intimidated yesterday, even after you realized who she was. But now, hearing her discuss how her company is transitioning to electric cars, you’re feeling a little out of your league. She’s by far the most intelligent person on the panel - you’re not biased at all - and she is able to command the room with her quiet but firm voice. Then everyone is clapping and the moderator is thanking everyone for attending and she’s walking off stage and people are milling out of the auditorium and it’s over so fast you don’t move until Kuvira snaps her fingers in front of your face. 

“What is going _on_?” she hisses. 

“Nothing!” you say quickly. Too quickly, apparently.

“You’ve been staring at Asami Sato for the past hour. I get that she’s pretty, but Korra c’mon.”

You shake your head. “First of all, she’s gorgeous.” Kuvira rolls her eyes so hard you’re surprised she doesn’t hurt herself. “And second of all, it’s nothing like that, I just have a, uh, lunch meeting with her.”

Kuvira is looking at you like you’ve grown a second head. “Excuse me? You have a date with the most powerful woman in Republic City and you didn’t even tell me!” She places a hand over her heart and gives you a pained look. “I’m hurt, Korra. I’m _wounded_ , Korra.”

You chuckle, but you still shove her shoulder a little. “It’s not a date.” She gives you a skeptical look. “Seriously! We met yesterday and I guess she wants a little perspective on an idea she has. It’s just lunch, I swear!”

Kuvira smiles in that smug, knowing way of hers and _ugh_ , you hate when she does that. “Fine, fine, but you might want to tell the rest of your brain that, because if you can’t keep that crush of yours in check you’re going to seriously screw it up.” She only laughs when you glare at her. “Now let’s go or we’re going to be late to meet Varrick.”

You follow her this time without complaint, and she hands you your phone as soon as you leave the auditorium. There’s a new message, but your heart sinks a little when it’s just from your mom. You’re not sure what you expected because, duh, Asami has been on stage for the past hour. The convention hall is a lot busier now, so you decide to wait to respond in favor of not walking into anyone. 

After a few minutes the crowds are beginning to fall away and you’re walking down narrower corridors and it’s not as well lit and, “Kuvira, where are we going?”

She looks down at her phone and frowns. “I... this doesn’t seem right but look,” she tilts the screen towards you, “this is definitely the way we’re supposed to go. Room 211.”

You’ve come to a long, dimly lit hallway and you glance back towards the civilization behind you. “And room 211 is down murder hallway here?”

Kuvira huffs a little. “If Varrick wanted to murder us he could probably have it done on the street in broad daylight.”

“Maybe it’s not Varrick I’m worried about…” Your voice echoes ominously as you walk down the hallway.

Kuvira follows you, her steps fast, and you know there’s that small part of her that hates scary movies and she’s nervous, so you do your best evil laugh impression and she practically chases you the rest of the way down the hall. You come to a stop in front of a door at the end marked 211, and use your shoulder to push it open as Kuvira comes crashing in after you. The door is swinging wildly behind you both and her cursing trails off when she sees Varrick’s assistant calmly filling several small tea cups from a teapot. “Sorr-” Kuvira starts. 

“Ladies!” comes a voice from behind you while a hand claps on each of your shoulders. You feel Kuvira start violently at your side before composing herself. 

“Varrick, good to see you.”

“You too, you too. So, this is the biologist you’ve told me so much about? What was it? Kara?”

“Korra,” his assistant corrects as she places the cups of tea on a metal tray.

“Korra! Right, right. Good to meet you, kid.” He grabs your hand awkwardly by just your fingers and gives it a violent wiggle. He moves past you into the room and leans back against the large table in the middle. “Let’s get cracking! I’ve got a facial cleanse at noon and I definitely need it!” He looks at you both expectantly for a long moment and when you look over his shoulder you see his assistant shake her head minutely. 

“Oh... Oh!” you start. “Nooo you definitely don’t-”

“You look great Varrick, really-” Kuvira falls in line after you.

“-look at me, I could really use a facial, uh, thing, but y-”

“-skin of porcelain!” 

He waves you both off and turns back around to take a seat at the table. You share a look with Kuvira and follow after him. You both sit opposite him, and while his assistant hands you a cup of tea you elbow Kuvira and mouth, “Skin of porcelain?” She narrows her eyes at you and you give her your biggest smile before turning your attention back to Varrick. 

“Now, ladies, tell me about this turbine of yours.”

Kuvira clears her throat awkwardly. “Well, Varrick, as you’re aware, there’s a river that flows through Republic City and empties into Yue Bay.” Varrick nods vigorously and motions for her to continue. “That’s a lot of energy being expended that could be harvested to provide power into the city-”

“But we have to make sure that we aren’t interrupting any fish migrations! Or doing any major damage to the land surrounding the generator.” You give Kuvira an apologetic look for interrupting, but she actually looks relieved and nods for you to continue. “I think we can do it. We’ll need larger scale prototypes, of course, but if we build a new turbine that allow fish to pass safely through it, we can have the best of both worlds.” 

“And I have the perfect site,” Kuvira pulls out a small map from her folder and points to it while sliding it over to Varrick. “Here. The river bank is naturally high, and if we build a dam here, I’m confident the bank would support a reservoir.”

Varrick is nodding along, but it almost seems as if he’s not listening. Kuvira sits back and you glance at one another, worried. After several moments Varrick clears his throat. “You’re working on the patent for this fish-friendly turbine?”

You flush a little. “Well, yes, but neither of us are engineers, so we only have our theories and small proof of concept models…”

“What would two scientists,” he motions between the two of you, “an ecologist and…?”

“A geologist,” Kuvira clarifies with a frown.

“A geologist, right, be getting out of this deal, exactly?”

There’s a long stretch of silence, and once it’s clear that Kuvira doesn’t want to answer, you take it upon yourself. “You would be required to buy the land around the generator. And we would like to use that land to build a nature reserve. You would be able to sell affordable, renewable energy to the city and we get to establish a protected area of land where I can study local wildlife and plants, and Kuvira can do soil surveys, or whatever it is that she does, in an area of the world where nothing of the kind exists.”

Kuvira rolls her eyes at you but simply adds, “And, if the turbine proves to be successful, we can work on implementing it within other hydroelectric plants.” 

Varrick drums his fingers on the table and takes long gulps of his tea and your stomach is twisted in knots. He sets his cup down and studies you both before shouting, “I love it!”

“You do?” Kuvira squeaks.

“But!” Oh, of course. “We need President Raiko to sign off, obviously.” _Shit_. “And I want to see a working prototype of the turbine. If it doesn’t work, we’re pretty dead in the water.” His eyes widen and his mouth stretches into a huge grin. “Hah! Get it!? Dead in the water! Like the fish! Zhu-Li, do you get it?” 

“Very funny, sir,” Zhu-Li deadpans. 

Varrick looks back towards you, still chuckling. “Anyway, get me those things, and you’ll get your nature reserve. We can discuss the finer points later.” 

“Wha-” you start, but are immediately cut off.

“Done,” Kuvira says with force. You whirl around to look at her incredulously.

“Great! Zhu-Li, pen them in for a month from now. Then we can get everything signed and start construction!” He pushes his chair back and stands, his hands on the table. 

You sputter, “A month?”

“You’re right, you’re right. Why wait? We want this started as soon as possible. Zhu-Li, instead put them in for two weeks from now at my office in Republic City. And now, it’s time for my facial. Great to see you, ladies!” He barges out the door and Zhu-Li bows a little before trailing out after him, tapping on her tablet. 

You let out a long breath. “Two weeks.” 

“Korra, this is great!” Kuvira takes you by both shoulders and shakes you a little. 

“What do you mean, great? We have no way of building this prototype let alone even getting through President Raiko’s door!”

“And yet,” she punctuates each word with a jab at your chest, “you are literally about to have lunch with the CEO of Future Industries, a person who would know how to do both those things.” 

You cross your arms and frown deeply. “I don’t want to use her…”

Kuvira scoffs. “I’m not asking you to! Just ask her for some advice. Maybe she knows someone who would make the prototype on the cheap or maybe she can get us that meeting. You can be charming! Sometimes! Just turn it on a little, be the adorable idiot I know you can be!”

You shrug off her grip and start to leave the office. “Fine, fine. I’ll ask. No promises, though.”

She holds up both hands in a placating motion. “Totally, that’s all I’m asking.” 

“But Kuvira?” 

She hums in question as she shuts the office door behind her. 

“You think I’m adorable?”

“Ugh, I hate you. Go, go to your lunch before you become the first victim in murder hallway.”

You stay one step ahead of Kuvira all the way down the hall, laughing maniacally all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive:  
> Any inaccuracies as far as hydroelectric dams are concerned. I can't say I've ever built one before.  
>  ~~Any grammatical weirdness. This is un-beta'd and if you notice anything unforgivable please let me know and I'll fix it post-haste.~~ Edit 12/15: This is beta'd now! By osmrice! I _refuse_ to apologize for my grammatical weirdness now. HAH.  
>  The extreme lack of Korrasami. I'll make up for it next chapter.  
> Bumping up the rating to T, because _swears_.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts and comments!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami has a less than stellar morning, but her afternoon is shaping up pretty well.

You allow yourself a long sigh of relief after you step off the stage and into the back of the auditorium. Public speaking isn’t your favorite thing in the world, but it’s part of your job and you think the panel went pretty well, all things considered. You’re proud of the strides Future Industries has made in the past few years, and producing primarily electric cars is a huge part of that. You still offer a handful of hybrid and internal combustion models, but you’re confident that will change in the next decade as electric models become more affordable to produce. You only wish you could get other companies on board as well. Competition breeds innovation and affordability. 

Things haven’t been easy since your dad stepped down. A company, widely disliked and in shambles was thrust into your lap and no one on the board really trusted or believed in you. You’ve been struggling to steer the cumbersome boat that is Future Industries for two years now, and only now have your investors stopped second guessing your every move. You’re grateful, but you know it could all come crumbling down at any moment, and it keeps you up at night sometimes. You just want to do the right thing, be what your father couldn’t - or wouldn’t - be, and maybe Korra can help you with the next, biggest steps in that direction. You’re thinking about her easy enthusiasm and subconsciously your fingers brush the phone in your pocket, but the image of her smile shatters when you hear a croaking voice behind you.

“Lovely to see you again, Ms Sato.” When you turn you’re unsurprised to find Lau Gan-Lan, CEO of Cabbage Corp, gazing at you with lidded eyes. You suppress the shiver that runs up your spine.

It’s hard to get along with Lau - his habits of cutting corners and questionable business practices hurt more than just his consumers. But, he’s an intelligent businessman and getting him on the right side of car production technology is important to you, so you put up with his leering and greet him politely. “And you, Lau. I was very happy to have you sit on the panel today. I’m glad Cabbage Corp is attempting more environmentally friendly practices.”

Lau shifts from one foot to the other, uncomfortable. “Yes, well, Cabbage Corp is always interested in changing with the times and - ahem - the market.” You fight the urge to roll your eyes. He clears his throat, but it only makes his voice more raspy. “I was hoping we might have a chance to talk about my proposal for the pipeline.”

You knew this was coming ever since the contract proposal from Cabbage Corp had come across your desk, but being confronted with it puts you on edge. “I have had a chance to read your proposition, yes.”

“I think you’ll agree that it’s the best thing for both our compani-”

“Asami!” You have to bite your lip to keep from smiling when you hear Bolin call your name from across the room. He’s barrelling towards you without regard to the people around him and you couldn’t love him more than you do in this moment. “Where have you been? You’re going to be late if you don’t leave this instan- oh, hello Mr Gan-Lan!” He bows a little to Lau, taking heavy gulps of air and you cover your mouth with a hand to hide the smile twitching at the corner of your mouth. “My apologies for interrupting.”

Lau’s face has twisted with the effort of hiding his disgust and you cut him off before he can say anything rude to Bolin. “I’m sorry, Lau, but my assistant is right. I have a prior engagement. Perhaps another time?”

Lau’s features spread out into something akin to patience, and he nods. “Of course. I will contact your office and make sure we can meet during a time when we can avoid being… interrupted.”

“I look forward to it,” you say through clenched teeth. You slip your arm into the crook of Bolin’s elbow and turn away, walking more quickly than you need to. “I could kiss you right now, you know?”

“Not that I would mind, but you might want to clear that with Opal first.”

“Don’t think I won’t,” you say seriously.

You’ve exited out of the auditorium’s side door into the rest of the hall. Bolin is tapping away on his Blackberry - you can’t believe anyone still uses a Blackberry, but he insists - and he’s expertly weaving his way through the crowd without looking away from it. “You have an interview with Ba Sing Se Weekly in ten minutes, then you have lunch with- what’s that look for?”

“About the lunch.”

“Oh, no no no, I’ve already rescheduled this the last _two_ times you were in Ba Sing Se!” 

“I’m sorry, something’s come up…”

Bolin has stopped you in the middle of the crowded hallway and people are jostling around you. He doesn’t seem to notice. “You have to give me more than that, Asami! I’m going to have to tell them your plane went down in the middle of the ocean to get out of it this time…” He slides out the keyboard of his Blackberry - ridiculous, you think - and begins frantically writing a message.

“I’m meeting with an ecologist about a factory design I’m working on.” You have to struggle against the crowd to stay in place with Bolin, but he’s stone still, unfazed.

“What does an ecologist have to do with factories?” he asks, his fingers gliding over the keys without stopping.

“I’d like to reduce our footprint and making a more environmentally friendly factory would be huge and she already offered some helpful thoughts and… What?”

Bolin has raised his head finally and is watching you with a raised eyebrow, his thumbs hovering above his phone. His face flickers through several emotions before he adopts a conspiratorial smile. “Oh. Ohhh, I gotcha. Say no more, lunch cleared up for you.” He makes a show of punching send on his phone and gives you an exaggerated wink.

You sigh and roll your eyes but say, “Thanks, Bolin.”

“What I’m here for! Now, let’s get you to that interview.”

Bolin ushers you into a large side room where there are several cameras and lights set up; you raise your eyebrows and whisper out of the side of your mouth, “What’s this?”

Bolin whispers back, “I don’t know, they didn’t tell me they would be filming the interview.”

“Ms Sato! Lovely to meet you, I’m Kuon, I’ll be conducting the interview today if you just want to take a seat right over there.” He gestures to a chair on the opposite side of the room. 

“Oh, okay… Nice to meet you…” You trail off when Kuon has already moved away, speaking to someone with large headphones clapped over their ears. A woman leads you to the chair and takes a makeup brush to your face. The lights are bright in your eyes and you have to squint to make out Bolin in the darkness. He gives you an encouraging smile and a thumbs up and you force yourself to return it. 

“Great, let’s get started.” Kuon has taken a seat across from you and waved the woman applying your makeup away. You try to thank her but she disappears into the darkness around you and Kuon is motioning for the filming to begin and starts introducing himself to the cameras. “I’m here at the Sustainable Design and Engineering Convention downtown at the Ba Sing Se expo center and I’m joined today by the illustrious Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries. Asami, thanks for joining us.”

You click on that part of your brain that washes away your nerves and emotions and compose yourself. “A pleasure, Kuon.”

“It’s been two years since your father, Hiroshi Sato, stepped down. How does Future Industries stand without him?”

You’re blindsided. Your eyes flick up past Kuon and you find Bolin in the dim light with a stricken look on his face. You force yourself to meet Kuon’s gaze and swallow thickly. “Hiroshi Sato may have founded Future Industries, but it has outgrown his shadow, and he does not reflect what Future Industries has become. It stands on its own two feet, as do I.”

Kuon casually leans back in his chair. “But many have expressed doubt in you taking over his position, especially after his disgraced exit. You cannot deny that it has shaken the public’s faith in Future Industries, and in the name ‘Sato’.”

It’s a line of questioning that you’ve grown used to these past few years, but that doesn’t mean that it affects you any less. “I had nothing to do with the design of the mecha suits, as you might remember, Kuon, being such a well-respected member of the press.” Kuon flushes and you count it as a small victory. “Hiroshi allowed greed and self-preservation to cloud his sense of human decency. It is not a mistake I have any interest in repeating.”

Kuon leans forward, eyes alight. You know he wants to get a rise out of you on television. You won’t let him. “And what do you have to say to those in the Southern Water Tribe, who are still suffering under the effects of your father’s weapons?”

“Our presence in the Southern Water Tribe is well-documented, and I believe our actions have spoken louder than I ever could.” You can hear your frustration and anger creeping into your voice. You force it down, but you know you have to end this line of questioning before your carefully maintained demeanor cracks.

“It’s clear that the company hasn’t been able to reach the heights that it did two years ago. What can you say to investors who are concerned Future Industries will never be able to escape your father’s legacy? How do you plan to reclaim success?”

You can feel your nails digging into your palm and you force yourself to uncurl your fingers and fold them in your lap. “I would say that I have no interest in running a company that profits from the suffering of others. That is not what I consider success. When you say that Future Industries hasn’t been able to reach what it was two years ago, I would agree with you. And I consider _that_ a success. I’m proud of that fact.” Kuon opens his mouth, but you cut him off before he can interrupt. “That’s why I’m here at the SDEC. I’m here to meet with experts in various fields so I can work to maintain Future Industries’ history of innovation and meet the demands of an ever changing world. I certainly didn’t come to make excuses for a man whose actions do not reflect me, or my company.”

You’re met with silence so you allow yourself a long breath before continuing. “I am, however, happy to discuss what strides Future Industries has made in the automotive sector, or perhaps our new line of aircraft, designed to make air travel more comfortable and less impactful on the environment.”

Kuon, to his credit, recovers from your assault fairly quickly. He only asks a few polite questions about your work, which you answer with feigned enthusiasm. He ends the interview as quickly as he can, having lost all of his bite, and you stand, practically ripping the microphone from your lapel as you stalk out of the circle of lights. You think Kuon is saying something, but Bolin is at your side in an instant and he’s yelling and you just want to leave. You keep moving past him and make for the exit; soon Bolin has caught up with you and is opening the door for you, a hand on your back.

You hadn’t thought your exit through very well, however, because now you’re in a huge, crowded corridor and the bodies are too close and too loud and there isn’t enough space for you to think or breathe, and you’re walking automatically, Bolin’s hand clutching yours. You’re trying not to be overwhelmed when Bolin throws open the door to the women’s restroom and leads you bodily inside.

Your entrance startles the several women standing at the line of sinks. Bolin, ignoring their affronted protests, shoos them out the door. You want to stop him - these women were here first and you don’t own the bathroom just because you’re a bit upset - but you’re secretly and selfishly grateful for his complete disregard of societal norms. 

You lean back against the sink counter, unwilling to look at yourself in the mirror. Bolin is hovering, looking as though he’s ready to pounce, but unsure of what you need. He finally settles for leaning on the counter next to you, just there, not touching you or speaking. This feeling is familiar, this emptiness in your chest that aches when you think about your father, but it’s not usually sprung on you so suddenly. Usually it’s a slow build of reminders that have lost some of their sharpness with time. But right now you’re struggling to regain your equilibrium. There’s a prickling behind your eyes that you won’t give into because you’re Asami _Sato_ and you do _not_ cry over this. Not anymore.

You take several, steadying breaths and you start to feel more like yourself. You lean your head against Bolin’s shoulder and he puts a strong arm around your back. “Do you want to go back to the hotel?” he asks quietly. 

You sigh. “No, I’m going to my lunch.” You’re determined not to let Kuon or Hiroshi affect you for one more second today. You won’t let them ruin the last day of what has been a productive, worthwhile weekend. “What time is it?”

“Uh,” Bolin pulls his phone from his pocket and glances at it. “Quarter to one.”

A woman pushes open the door to the restroom and freezes when she sees the two of you there. She spins on a heel and hurries back out the door. “Bolin, you gotta get out,” you remind him. 

He pushes himself off the counter. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what all the ladies say.” He looks you in the eye for a moment before he seems satisfied that you’re okay. 

You give him a weak, but genuine smile. “I’ll see you at the architect mixer later.” You turn back to the mirror, and start to wipe off the makeup from the interview. You’re covered in excess powder, and you want to fix it before you see Korra.

“Asami?” You glance at Bolin’s reflection in the mirror. “You did really awesome in that interview.” 

You’d really needed to hear that, because to you it felt like a disaster. “Thanks, Bolin.”

“What I’m here for.” A dour woman pushes open the door just as he turns to leave. She stops in her tracks, staring at the stocky man looming over her. “Yeah, yeah, I know! I’m leaving! Sheesh! Can’t a man walk into a women’s restroom in _peace_?” he yells loudly as he passes her. He always manages to make you smile, even when you don’t want to.

\--

Korra is already there when you arrive at the restaurant. You can see her from the other side of the street, where you’re waiting at a crosswalk. She’s leaning against the wall by the door, glaring at her phone as if it had done something to personally offend her. She looks comically frustrated, but her expression brightens when she glances up and sees you. You’re cursing yourself because you were caught staring _again_ , but you own it and wave timidly as the crosswalk light turns green. She returns your wave with more enthusiasm, and slides her phone into her bag.

You know you’re pretty, it’s never been something people were shy about telling you. You’re comfortable with it, but you wear your makeup like warpaint. It readies you. It makes you feel confident and in control, but it also protects you. Korra though, she doesn’t need warpaint. She’s effortlessly beautiful and confident in her simple, plain sweater over her button up. The wind picks up her hair and tosses it across her face sometimes, but it never seems to bother her. She looks like the sun personified and it strips you of everything your makeup usually gives you and leaves you feeling raw and exposed. 

“Hi, you look great,” you blurt without a second thought. You’re instantly mortified, but Korra positively _shines_ and you think you might say anything if it meant she’d smile like that again.

“Thank you, you do too. I like the shawl. It’s snazzy.” She blushes after she says it, but you just laugh.

“Thanks, I don’t know if I’ve ever been called snazzy before.” You look down at your shawl and self consciously smooth it out. When you look back up you find Korra studying you with a tilted head and a soft, pensive look. You glance away and ask, “Are you hungry?”

She chuckles. “I know we haven’t known each other long, Asami, but it’s going to become abundantly clear that I am _always_ hungry. But, I was wondering, would you be up for a walk instead? I don’t know about you but I could use some time outdoors. The convention hall starts to get kind of… claustrophobic after a while.”

You have no idea how Korra knows, or if she even knows, but your relief must be obvious, because she looks a little worried. “I love that idea. Besides, I’ll bet those food carts in the park are better than those overpriced salads.” You must have said the right thing, because Korra gives you another excited, crooked grin and grabs your hand, pulling you down the street. You’re happy to let her steer you towards the park, because your eyes are glued to Korra’s warm hand wrapped around yours. 

The park is full of people, out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, food carts lining the walkways and kids shouting. Korra releases your hand as soon as you arrive, and you try not to be disappointed. She starts down a gently sloping path towards the lake in the middle of the park. “What are you interested in? Noodles? Kabobs? Oh wait, are you vegetarian?”

“No, but you pick. I don’t think I’ve had any of these before.” You know you haven’t, since your father never let you get out much when you were growing up. You quickly shake away the thought of him, unwilling to let him darken the edges of your thoughts.

“Oh man, you’re going to love this. Hold on.” Korra swings her bag wide off her shoulder before setting it in the grass. “I’m going to grab some food, just wait here a second.” She’s on her knees, digging around in her bag. She yanks out a book - the same one you saw her with yesterday, you’re pretty sure - with several papers shoved in between the pages. With it slides out several other folders and loose sheets of paper. A couple of paper clips fall out as well, having not done their job very well. She messily shoves everything back in, casting a side glance at you while you hover above her. “S-sorry. Uh, here.” She sits back on her heels and you smooth out your skirt before kneeling next to her. “I had some thoughts about your factory last night. I hope you don’t mind.” She’s lost some of her self-assuredness, and she’s rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly and not quite meeting your eye. 

Your eyes drift over the pages. “No, of course not…” you assure her, but you’re focused on her notes and not really paying attention to her anymore. 

“Right, okay. I’ll be right back.” She springs up and rushes past you, but you hardly notice. Your notebook is organized, hardbound and embossed with the Future Industries’ gear. You keep meticulous notes so that you can easily refer to them later. You even carry a small straight edge with you, and a compass. Korra, on the other hand, has spread her thoughts all over the loose pages she’s handed you. There are lines scratched out and messy drawings. She’s sketched her own version of your factory, one with solar panels covering every inch of the roof, as she had suggested. The factory almost looks like an afterthought, lines apparent everywhere. Your basic design is there, but her sketches are missing your purposeful lines. However, Korra had designed several pockets in the area surrounding the factory that are filled with more carefully drawn life. There are easily distinguishable cacti, and other less identifiable desert plants. On one of the other pages, there are rock-like habitats clearly designed for lizards or snakes.

You notice the book she had pulled all of her notes out of is lying open on the grass next to you. Korra’s hasty scrawl is in the margins, in between printed lines, _every_ where. Some sentences are circled or severely underlined. Part of you is mortified, there’s something about a defaced book that seems _wrong_. But you’re fascinated. You pull the book into your lap and turn it to look at the cover. It’s a book about fish migration habits. You flip through, and there are very few pages that have gone untouched by Korra’s pen. _Pen_. If you didn’t know better, you would think that Korra is a monster. You can’t help but surreptitiously smooth out all the dog ears you come across. 

You flip to a page that has a neatly folded piece of paper tucked inside. You carefully unfold it and find a beautifully realized anatomical drawing of a fish. You don’t recognize the fish - it looks like something you might pick up at the market - but Korra has neatly labeled parts of it. There are notes about injuries under it, and some random statistics that make no sense without context. You look back at the pages of notes about your factory, and it’s hard to believe that they were made by the same person. The care she took in drawing the fish anatomically correct is obvious, even to your fish-ignorant eye. You flip the paper over and find a drawing of a… turbine? It doesn’t look like any turbine you’ve ever seen, but it seems to serve a similar purpose. On the edges you see her notes:

_~~blades~~ NO don’t work_

_gaps??_

_I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING I’M A FRAUD_

_slower moving? then what’s the point korra_

_spin with direction of migration_

Your laughter is cut short when you realize Korra is coming back. She’s completely laden with to-go containers and bags and she’s struggling to hold it all while making her way down the grassy slope you’re at the bottom of. You fold the page and tuck it back in its place before setting the book down. You stand and meet her. “Can I- can I take something?” you ask.

“I’m honestly not sure,” she replies, trying to deposit the bundle as gently as she can on the ground. You uselessly move to take several bags from her, but it mostly all just collapses in a heap anyway. Thankfully, none of the containers are breached and you quickly righten them into piles. “I might have gotten carried away…” she admits sheepishly.

“Maybe,” you agree. You crack open a long to-go box and, “Um, Korra, what the hell is this?”

She leans over, pulling a pair of chopsticks out from a bag. “Oh, that? That’s a Pizzapocalypse. It’s like, a pizza grilled cheese.”

“You mean they take cheese and then use pizza instead of bread?”

“And grill it, yes.”

You stare at her in disbelief while she opens another box - this one filled with a mass of rice and mystery meat - and shovels the food into her mouth with her chopsticks. Finally, you look back down at the box and shrug. “Dibs,” you say before gingerly picking up the mass and eating it with aplomb.

You have to use your fingers to pull the cheese away from your bite, but when you manage it you look back at Korra. You’re not sure what that look she’s giving you is, but it inexplicably fills that empty part of your chest with warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the length too much? Are these longer chapters okay, or would you prefer for me to keep it short?
> 
> The Pizzapocalypse is a real thing where I live, though it is called something else. I'm curious to see if anyone recognizes it. It's delicious and at this point has shaved several months off my lifespan.
> 
> Thanks for your patience while I try things out. I'm having fun!
> 
> Edit 12/17: All praise be unto osmrice, in her eternal patience and beta-ing. (Praise be, praise be)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra nails it sometimes, and sometimes she doesn't.

You’ve never seen anyone eat a Pizzapocalypse with quite so much _dignity_ before. Leave it to Asami to make even eating two slices of pizza smashed together look downright elegant. She takes several bites before setting it back into its box. You hand her a pile of napkins and she nods her thanks, still chewing. She wipes her mouth, and you notice that she’s smeared some of her lipstick on her upper lip. Seeing her in an imperfect state only makes you like her more.

“You have a…” You point to your own mouth with your chopsticks.

Her eyebrows raise in alarm. “Oh no, cheese?” She takes a fresh napkin and dabs at the corners of her mouth. 

“No, uh-” You raise your own napkin, but hesitate while you wait for her permission. She watches you for a moment and you almost drop your hand back down before she lowers her napkin and tilts her chin forward slightly. You’re acutely aware of her eyes while you gently wipe her upper lip. “Got it.”

You hand her the napkin, and she chuckles when she sees the lipstick stain across it. “I didn’t think I would be eating _that_ when I put on lipstick earlier.”

“You never know when pizza can happen, Asami. That’s why I don’t wear makeup,” you announce with mock seriousness.

You hear her mumble, “Oh, is that why…” under her breath. You don’t know what that means, exactly, but you brush it off and dig into one of the bags for a roasted vegetable kabob.

You offer it to her. “Something healthy to counterbalance all that grease?”

She accepts it but shakes her head. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“It is if you believe!” You fan your hands out wide dramatically. She laughs loudly and it’s light, like rain against a window.

You pick up your chopsticks and resume eating, stealing glances at Asami as she thoughtfully chews her kabob. She looks like she wants to say something, and after a few moments you set your container down again and give her your full attention. She meets your eye and sighs, setting down the skewer. “I’m kind of at a disadvantage. You know a lot about me, but I know almost nothing about you. Other than you’re an ecologist and you like to eat, I mean.”

You drop your gaze and rub the back of your neck. “To be totally honest, I don’t know very much about you. I grew up in the Southern Water Tribe, so I’ve certainly heard of your father, but very little about you…”

You look back up, and Asami has her teeth set uncomfortably. “Oh.” The expression that had darkened her face in front of the restaurant is back, and you frantically back pedal.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no it’s fine. Hiroshi’s involvement with your country isn’t exactly a secret, and I won’t pretend that it didn’t happen.” You note the use of her father’s first name, instead of referring to him more colloquially. 

“That doesn’t mean you have to answer for his actions,” you say firmly.

Asami’s eyebrows raise, and she’s regarding you curiously. Slowly, as if she’s chewing the words before speaking them, she says, “I do answer for Future Industries’ actions.”

“I may not know a lot about you, but I know you’re not your fa- Hiroshi, and you’re not your company,” you stubbornly argue.

Her eyebrows briefly furrow. After a moment she gives you a grateful nod and a small smile, but says nothing.

“Uh,” you begin awkwardly, desperate to move on. “I haven’t lived in the south for a couple of years now. I went to school in Zaofu, and I recently moved to Republic City.”

“What do you do there?” Asami discards her skewer and shakes her head when you offer her another. 

“Nothing yet. I only moved there two weeks ago.” You know you bought some cookies, they must be in one of these bags somewh- ah, there they are.

Asami accepts the bag of cookies, and when she cracks it open she tilts the bag towards you. “You mentioned you have a partner?” You’re surprised she remembers, and it definitely shows because Asami shrugs and explains, “Part of meeting a lot of people and needing them all to like you is remembering the details.”

You chuckle quietly. “It works.” She looks vaguely startled at that, but you continue talking. “I do, she’s a geologist from Zaofu. We worked on a lot of habitat projects together in school. We just sort of… kept doing that, I guess.”

Asami tilts her head towards your notes, still spread among all of your discarded containers. “I noticed the habitats you designed around the factory.”

You lift a couple of bags, looking for the drink carrier you’d forgotten about. When you find it, you hand one of the plain styrofoam cups to Asami. “There are lots of things you can do to minimize your effect on the land and animals. And here,” you point to one of the pages, “I was thinking about your power consumption.”

Asami takes a sip from her straw, then confusedly glances at the cup. “I feel like I’m asking this a lot, but what’s this?” 

“Horchata,” you explain, sipping your own. “It’s made from rice, I think?”

Asami takes another long pull. “It tastes like the milk left over after you eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch.”

You pull your mouth away from your straw. “Holy shit, you’re right! No wonder I love it.” Asami laughs again and you can’t seem to get your goofy grin under control. “Big cereal eater, are you?”

“When you work as much as I do, you pretty much eat anything that takes under two minutes to prepare.” Asami sets her cup down. “Anyway, power consumption?” 

“Right. That’s your biggest issue, right?” Asami hums an affirmative. “Not to even mention _storing_ all that energy, since you’re going to need a lot of it. Kuvira- er, my partner, she talks a lot about geothermal energy. I definitely don’t know nearly as much as she does, but she does go on and on sometimes so I’ve retained a few things.”

Asami reaches into her own bag - it’s a lot more organized than yours - and pulls out a small notebook. She twirls her pencil in her hand a little before flipping to a clean page. She looks back up at you. “I’ve heard of it, but you’ll have to help me a little.”

You pick up one of your pages off the ground. “If you dig like, ten feet down, the ground is a constant temperature of 55 degrees. You could bury a heat exchanger,” you point to a series of loopy pipes you’ve drawn, “and fill it with water to regulate the temperature in the factory.”

“So you have a heat pump, and it circulates the colder water from underground to cool the air, then distributes it around the factory?” Asami is drawing her own version of the pump and heat exchanger with quick, confident lines.

“Right. The water will absorb heat and then circulate it back underground, and bring up the water again to cool the air in the pump. And again and again.” 

Asami taps her pencil against her notebook thoughtfully. “We could use the same principle to create steam and use it to power things in the plant, couldn’t we?”

“As far as I understand it, but that’s without consulting with Kuvira, so don’t quote me on it. It was just a quick thought I had last night.” 

“It’s a thought that could actually make this ridiculous design possible.” You feel yourself blush, and Asami looks pleased to have had that effect on you. She reaches out and places a hand on your knee and your leg almost jerks. “Thank you, Korra. You had no reason to give my five minute sketch the time of day and” -she gestures to all of your notes- “not only did you take it seriously, you thought of a lot of things that hadn’t occurred to me. I’m incredibly grateful.”

You want to brush it off and tell her it’s nothing, but she looks so earnest that you can only accept her gratitude with a simple, “You’re welcome.”

Asami smiles in a way you haven’t seen before, and you’re not sure how you hadn’t noticed how _green_ her eyes were before. She ducks her head and writes some lines in her notebook while you awkwardly watch. A child screeches happily close by, and you look over Asami’s shoulder to see a young girl - you think she’s no more than four, but you’re honestly pretty terrible with ages - and she’s excitedly running after some of the ducks in the pond close by. You smile wistfully; the sight reminds you of your own childhood in the south, and it makes you so suddenly homesick that your chest hurts. You should really call your mom.

You turn slightly to dig through the remnants of your lunch. There’s an untouched container of rice, which you grab before getting up. Asami is saying something, and you feel rude, but you’re afraid you’ll miss your chance if the little girl gets too far away. It’d be too weird for you to follow her. “I’ll be right back,” you tell Asami, and walk after the girl.

You get pretty close to the ducks, much closer than the girl can, since you’re not a screaming four(?) year old. You crouch on the ground, placing the rice container next to you. “Hey,” you greet the girl as she approaches curiously. “Do you want to feed them?” Behind her you can see a tall woman sitting on a bench watching you closely, and you give her an acknowledging wave.

The girl looks at you shyly, then back at the ducks. “Yeah, but I don’t have any bread.”

“That’s good, actually!” you say enthusiastically. “Bread isn’t very good for ducks. They really like rice though.” You crack open the container and start to collect small clumps of rice. It doesn’t take long for you to attract the ducks’ attention, and when they get close you throw some of the rice towards them. It’s gone in a flash and the girl looks delighted. “Here,” you offer as you scoot the container towards her in invitation, and she immediately sets forth on collecting rice in her chubby hands.

“Hey, sweetie.” The tall woman from the bench crouches and wraps her hands around the girl’s shoulders. “Hello,” she greets you.

“Hi, I hope you don’t mind. I just thought she might like to feed them,” you explain as you stand awkwardly, nervously bouncing the toe of your shoe behind your other foot.

The woman stands as well, watching the girl excitedly hurling rice towards the rapidly growing crowd of ducks. “You were right. Thank you…?”

“Korra.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ming. This is Umi.” Ming tucks her hair behind her ear shyly.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m just gonna...” You point with both thumbs behind you, towards Asami, who you really hope is still there.

Ming glances over your shoulder and her eyes widen slightly. “Oh! Yeah, of course. Say thank you, Umi.”

“Thank you!” Umi says brightly but automatically, without looking up from her task.

“You’re welcome, bye!” You wave as you turn and jog back to where Asami is waiting for you with a strange expression that you can’t read. “Sorry about that,” you say as you plop back down on the grass.

“That was nice of you,” she observes.

You huff a little in amusement. “I didn’t really think it through, not everyone takes kindly to strange women approaching their children in the park.” You rub the back of your neck and throw a glance over your shoulder towards them.

“I think she was more than fine with it…” When you turn back to Asami, she’s leaning to the side of you and is observing Ming and Umi as well. She quickly straightens when you look at her and meets your eye.

“I guess so.” You shrug. “Anyway, what were you saying?”

Asami collects your notes together and starts running her thumb over the edges, flicking them absentmindedly. “Nothing important. It’s just really nice when I can interact with someone who doesn’t want something from me, you know?” You freeze. _Oh no_. She flushes and looks away. “Oh god, that sounded really conceited, didn’t it?”

Your eyes flick to your bag, where you have pages and pages of turbine problems. _Of course_ everyone wants to use her for her brain or her money or her resources or any of the million other things associated with Asami. How can you possibly ask her for help now? It would besmirch everything you’ve done so far, and she’ll think you’re just like everyone else.

She’s still speaking, rambling even, and you force yourself to pay attention. “-thinking that when we go back to Republic City we could… work together. On this, I mean. She holds out the page with your habitats. “I really like the idea of creating a sustainable factory, especially if we can do minimal damage to the ecosystem. Or, what am I saying, you must have other things you’re busy working on-”

“I’d love to,” you blurt. In the back of your mind, you see Kuvira yelling and waving her arms frantically. 

“You would?” Asami looks so hopeful and shy; the image of Kuvira disappears in a cloud of smoke.

“Asami, are you kidding? This is an amazing project, I like working with you, why wouldn’t I want to?” You roll your eyes dramatically. 

She doesn’t answer right away, but her smile lengthens and for a long moment you’re not sure you remember your own name, let alone Kuvira’s. You realize you’re staring, so you awkwardly cough and begin collecting your things. You accept your notes from Asami and open your bag, propping it up against your leg to prevent everything from spilling out again.

“You seem like you have a lot going on in there.” Asami has her head tilted, like she’s trying to see into your bag.

“Oh, _heh_. No, it’s nothing,” you assure her. You slide your book and your notes into your bag, and you manage to shove them in without much difficulty, though you hear the telltale crinkle of notes being crushed. You try not to wince.

If Asami doesn’t believe you, she doesn’t let it show. She helps you collect the multitude of containers spread out on the ground. Asami grabs all the untouched containers - there are more than a few - while you gather the empty ones. You’re not sure how you carried them all before, because even with both of you carrying containers you’re having trouble maneuvering.

You dump your bundle of containers into a recycle bin. Asami is still carrying a bag full of food. “Please don’t make me responsible for this.” She raises the bag towards you.

“I won’t.” You take the bag. “I promised I’d pick up lunch for Kuvira anyway, since she’s stuck at some geologist panel.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate leftovers,” Asami says dryly. 

“Hey! I have enough here to feed a small army, so it should be a reasonably sized first course for her.” You pause for a moment before adding, “Please don’t tell her I said that when you meet her.”

“I’ll try to resist,” Asami chuckles.

“I appreciate that.” You awkwardly roll on the balls of your feet. “Are you heading back to the convention center?”

“Yep, there’s an architect mixer I was planning on attending.” You exit the park with Asami, swinging the bag of leftovers that Kuvira should be _grateful_ for.

“Oh, are you planning on adding architect to your ever growing title? ‘Asami Sato, President, CEO, Engineer, Architect’?” you tease.

Asami smiles sadly, which was definitely not the reaction you wanted. “No, just more of an interest. And you know, never miss an opportunity to network and all that.”

You nod sagely. “I _have_ heard that before.” You turn away, rubbing your neck. “I’m glad I didn’t waste the opportunity yesterday…”

It takes a few seconds before you’re brave enough to look at Asami again, but when you do, she’s smiling. “Me too.”

The convention is winding down, so the crowds are thinning. You feel your phone vibrate with a message. 

**Kuvira (3:38pm):** where are u??? im starving and uve been gone forever

“Oh wow, it’s a lot later than I thought it was...” Asami’s glancing at her own phone, brow furrowed.

**ME! (3:39PM):** comin chill out!

Asami tucks her phone away, her eyes flashing with something unfamiliar. “I’ll um, I’ll see you back in Republic City?”

“Yes, please. Er, I mean, yes, sure.” Your phone buzzes again in your hand. 

**Kuvira (3:39pm):** omg ru still on the date?!?@

Asami runs her fingers through her hair. “Great. This... this was fun. Thanks, Korra.”

“It’s not a date.” you murmur.

**ME! (3:40pm):** I had fun too we should do it again sometime

Asami tilts her head slightly. “What?” 

**Kuvira (3:40pm):** wut?

_What_?

Your head whips up towards Asami in a panic. She’s looking at you curiously, and you’re hoping against hope that she legitimately didn’t hear you. The alternative is way, way worse.

“What? Nothing. No, I had fun too, this was great. I- I’ll call you this week, okay? Okay!” 

“Oh...okay…?” 

“Okay, bye!” You wave and leave Asami standing in the middle of the convention hall in your dust. You’re too scared to look back, so you power walk as calmly as you can around a corner and out of sight before hitting yourself in the head repeatedly. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” you mutter.

\--

Kuvira is impatiently tapping her foot against the lobby floor when you rush out of the elevator the next morning. “Glad to see we’re back to normal, that ‘on time’ thing was really not working for you,” she growls.

“I wouldn’t want to subvert too many expectations in a single weekend.” You grab her backpack from the floor as you push past her and out the door. “Hurry up, slowpoke!”

You can hear her indistinctly grumbling behind you as you hail a cab. She stops as soon as one pulls up though, and you throw both of your bags in the trunk and climb in after her. “So,” she prompts. “I didn’t get a chance to ask yesterday, but how was your date?”

You lean your head against the window and look out at Ba Sing Se. You wish you could forget what happened when you said goodbye to Asami, but it’s been replaying over and over in your head and you can’t escape it. “It was fine, despite it not being a date.”

“Does that mean you wanted it to be?” You tilt your head to look at her, and Kuvira doesn’t seem like she’s teasing you, just interested.

You shake your head. “No. I don’t know. Maybe?” You let out a long breath and slump further into your seat. “She was just interested in my… academic perspective.”

Kuvira snorts. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?” You glare at her. “Kidding, kidding. Are you going to see her again? You do live in the same city now.”

You pull your head away from the glass and sit up in your seat. “About that…”

Kuvira narrows her eyes accusingly. “What did you do?”

You screw your eyes shut tight. “I _might_ have told her we’d work with her on her factory project.” You say it fast, like the way you'd rip off a band-aid to make the pain better.

You’re met with silence and you have to admit, that’s pretty unexpected. The seconds tick by, and the longer Kuvira goes without saying anything, the more nervous you become. Finally, you open your eyes and look at her.

She doesn’t look upset - instead, she looks a little defeated, which is way, way worse. “Korra, we have two weeks to get this... _thing_ , nature preserve, turbine, whatever, off the ground. We don’t have time to work for Future Industries.” She lowers her voice. “Is this your plan B? Are you giving up?”

You turn in your seat to face her, twisting your seatbelt around uncomfortably. “ _What_ \- no, Kuvira, of course not. How long have we known each other? When have I _ever_ given up? Even when we were on that damn survey expedition for our senior project and you wanted to leave after two days even though we weren’t even half done?”

Kuvira flashes a small smile before adopting an indignant expression. “Only because I found a leech in my hair. My _hair_ , Korra!” She folds her arms and huffs. “That swamp was the _worst_.”

Your shoulders are shaking with the effort of containing your laughter. “Aren’t you glad now that I didn’t let you leave?”

“I think repeating my senior year would have been more pleasant.” Kuvira finally smiles. “So, what then? We’re just going to do them both?”

“We’re just going to do them both,” you confirm with a determined nod. 

Kuvira leans her head forward into her hands. “Why am I friends with you?”

“I honestly have no idea,” you say as the cab pulls up to the airport and you get out to grab the bags. Kuvira pays the cabbie and you both run to the ticket counter. You glance at your phone for the time, and you announce to Kuvira as you arrive at the counter, “We’re going to make it!” Your eyes scan the large board behind the ticketing agent and immediately you deflate. “Aaaand our flight is delayed.”

Kuvira says with mock enthusiasm and a pained smile, “Of course it is!”

The ticketing agent looks at you sympathetically. “It shouldn’t be too long.” It only takes a few moments for her to find your reservation. “Only,” she winces, “four hours…”

You throw your head back and groan at the ceiling.

Kuvira shrugs and accepts your tickets from the agent. “Thanks.” She turns to you. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” you say miserably.

You trek to the food court, wondering what the burrito situation is like at the Ba Sing Se airport. Is it like, build your own, or breakfast burritos, or vending machine, or more importantly, is there guacamo- Kuvira interrupts your very important train of thought by grabbing your arm. “Hey, isn’t that your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfri- oh shit, you’re right.”

You know Kuvira is laughing at your reaction, but she _is_ right. There’s Asami, in line at the coffee place. She’s wearing a red and black flight jacket and jodhpurs and _good god_ you are down with that.

“Let’s say hi!” Kuvira boldly strides forward without a second thought and you scramble to catch up with her before it’s too late.

You take hold of her elbow and hold her back. “No no no what- why? Why would you want to do that?”

Kuvira doesn’t take her eyes off of her target as she purses her lips and brings her hand up to stroke a non-existent beard. “Oh, I don’t know, because we’re going to _work_ together, apparently?”

“Yeah, but we can meet her later when we’re not _ambushing_ her.” You’re panicking a little, with yesterday’s disaster flashing across your mind, and it’s only getting worse as Kuvira’s smile stretches wider and wider.

“Korra?” You’re pretty sure your brain has short circuited. 

“A-Asami! Hey. Hi. What brings you here?”

Asami’s eyes roam around the room briefly. “You mean to the airport?”

Kuvira snorts behind you and you chuckle awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. I guess you’re heading back to Republic City, aren’t you?”

Asami nods, taking a sip of her coffee. “Just waiting for the plane to gas up.” She turns towards Kuvira. “You must be Kuvira.”

“I must be! And you’re Asami Sato.” Kuvira is being so bright and friendly, it’s completely off-putting.

“I am. I suppose Korra has introduced my factory project to you already?”

Kuvira’s eyes flick to you for a moment. “Only in passing, but I’m looking forward to digging into it.” You smile, pleased that Kuvira is on board. You’re not sure how you’d manage it without her, really. “Though I have to admit,” Kuvira continues, “I’m not entirely sure how we’re going to divide our attention between working for Future Industries and working on our nature preserve project.”

Oh _fuck_. 

Asami looks confused, and you would find it really cute if your fight or flight response wasn’t firing through your brain so rapidly. You wonder what a last minute plane ticket to Crescent Island would cost you. Is that even far enough? Maybe you’ll need to flee to-

“Nature preserve project?” Asami asks. 

Kuvira’s head turns to you _very_ slowly. That swamp close to Zaofu is sounding better and better by the second. 

“Oh, Korra didn’t mention it?” Kuvira says lightly, eyes boring into you.

Asami side-eyes Kuvira worriedly. “No…” she says slowly. “I can’t say she did.” Her eyes flick to yours, and she doesn’t seem upset, just concerned. “Does this have something to do with those other notes in your fish migration book? The drawing of the fish?”

Your hand has found its way behind your neck and you chuckle nervously while watching Kuvira seethe out of the corner of your eye. “Oh, ha ha, you saw those, did you?”

Asami’s cheeks go a little rosy when she admits, “I may have taken a look. I just saw a fish drawing and sketches for some sort of weird turbine.”

“Fish and a sort of weird turbine, that’s definitely Korra.” Kuvira hasn’t taken her eyes off of you, but behind the fire you’re starting to see something else. Something that looks like hurt.

Asami’s phone buzzes loudly in her pocket. She inspects it for a moment. “My plane’s ready, I should get going. Are you guys headed out soon? Did you want to go through security?”

Kuvira finally tears her eyes away from you to look back at Asami. She looks entirely composed. “Our flight’s been delayed for a couple of hours, we’ll just hang out here and get some lunch or something.” She says it casually, as if she isn’t going to kill you, which you appreciate. 

“Would you like a ride?” Asami blurts. You’re startled into looking at her, and she seems a little embarrassed at her outburst. “I’m flying myself, and I certainly wouldn’t mind the company.”

You glance at Kuvira, who seems as surprised as you are. She looks at you, and you get the impression that she doesn’t mind, so you turn back to Asami before breathing, “That would be awesome.”

Asami’s relief is palatable, and she smiles so wide you’re surprised her cheeks don’t crack. “Great! Let’s head to security.”

Kuvira nods once and picks up her bag before leading the way without looking back.

Asami walks alongside you, and you’re afraid to look at her or speak until she breaks the silence for you. “Is this okay?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

Asami watches Kuvira’s back. “I get the impression that Kuvira was unhappy that I didn’t know about your other commitment.”

You scoff a little. “Unhappy might be an understatement.”

“Right. So, is it weird that I offered you a ride back? I feel like you guys could use some time alone to figure it out. We’re going to be trapped together in a small plane for several hours.” Asami looks genuinely concerned, and you would say you’re surprised that Asami is more worried about you and Kuvira than whatever you might have hid from her, but you’re not surprised at all.

You give her a reassuring smile. “It’s not weird, and we really appreciate the lift. Kuvira and I will be fine, we always are.” You huff lightly. “We’re both stubborn, hotheaded and sarcastic but for some reason, we work.”

Asami accepts your answer with a nod. “That’s… really good. I wish I had someone like that.”

“Someone stubborn, hotheaded and sarcastic?” you tease. 

Asami elbows you gently. “No, just… someone you can always count on.”

You hear something under the surface of Asami’s comment, so you say seriously, “You will.” She almost looks like she believes you.

Kuvira gets in line when you reach security, but Asami stops her. “Over here.” She leads you to a side door and shows her ID to the guard in front of it, who lets you all through without a second glance. Asami looks a little sheepish when she explains, “There are perks, sometimes.”

“I’ll say,” Kuvira murmurs behind you. 

She leads you out to the runway, where there’s a small plane sitting by itself, its hatch open. You have no idea what kind of plane it is, but it look pretty damn cool to your untrained eye. It matches Asami’s red and black flight jacket, and has the Future Industries’ gear painted onto the tail. Asami exchanges a few words with a man in a bright orange vest and a pair of enormous safety earmuffs. She laughs at something he says, and she glances at the plane with shining eyes. Asami shakes his hand, and motions for you to go ahead and board. 

You have to duck your head under the low entry way, but the inside isn’t so bad. It’s actually surprisingly spacious, made more so since there are only six seats and two small tables. When you see the two seats crammed into the cockpit, you yell back to Kuvira who is climbing in after you, “Oh my god, dibs!”

You throw your bag down onto an empty seat and lean your body into the cockpit to look around. You hear Kuvira mumble, “Knock yourself out.”

You turn to see her collapse into the chair closest to the door. She places her bag on the table and closes her eyes. You hadn’t noticed before how tired she looked. “Kuvira?”

She cracks an eye open. “Mm?”

You fidget a little. “I’ll fix it.”

She sighs and closes her eyes again. “I know you will, I trust you.” That makes you smile, and you take two large steps to her chair before crushing Kuvira in a hug with the force of your entire body weight behind it. “Ohh my god _get off_!” she cries. You hear steps behind you, and you turn your head against Kuvira’s shoulder to watch Asami climb in and stop when she sees you pinning Kuvira to the chair. You lean back off of Kuvira and she playfully slaps you away. “You are _so_ heavy, what the hell.” She curls up in her seat and closes her eyes again. “Leave me alone,” she grumbles.

You grin and stand to face Asami, who still looks vaguely startled. You give her a pleased smirk, and she mirrors it in understanding. She turns to close up the hatch and clears her throat. “Buckle up, we’ll be cleared to take off soon.”

“Actually, is it okay if I come sit with you?” you ask shyly. 

Asami turns, surprised, her hand on the locking mechanism of the door. “Yeah- yes, of course.” She snaps the door closed and you hear the seal catch. 

She climbs into the pilot’s chair, and when you join her she points to a headset for you to wear. You slip it on excitedly and she watches you amusedly while she dons her own. She says some very piloty sounding things into the headset, and you bounce a little in your seat in anticipation.

It only takes a few minutes before you’re rising into the air, exploding through the cloud cover and into the bright sunlight. Asami points to a small compartment between you. “There are some sunglasses in there, if you want.”

You snap the compartment open and hand her a pair of sunglasses. “They’re even aviators. Damn, Asami, you know how to do this pilot thing right.” You slip a pair on between the band of your headset and you’re pretty sure no one has ever looked as boss as you do right now. Except for maybe Asami, who can rock the hell out of aviators and a flight jacket. You look over at her and grin, and she returns it. 

After a few minutes of silence, which you mostly just spend craning your neck over the console to see more of the sky, you hear Asami’s voice filter through your headset. “Do you want to try?”

“What?” you ask. She motions to the controls. “ _Flying?_ ” She laughs and nods.

She runs you through a few things - like, apparently the steering wheel is called a yoke? - before she asks, “Ready?”

You glance back into the cabin, where Kuvira is sprawled out in her chair, completely oblivious. “She would absolutely die if she knew.”

“Better not jerk the plane around too much and wake her up, then.” 

You grasp the yoke with both hands. “No promises.”

“Okay, you’re just going to keep it steady, but you’re in control…” She flips a switch that you assume is the autopilot. “Now.”

You spend a few minutes really, _really_ concentrating, which is totally unnecessary, you realize, but you can’t help it. Once you feel confident enough, you turn to look at Asami. “This is amazing!” She looks like she’s going to respond, but you hand drifts a little in Asami’s direction and the plane starts to bank gently to the left. “Shit.”

“It’s fine,” Asami reassures you calmly. “But I’m going to take control now, okay?”

You laugh as she rightens the plane. “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Still, thanks for letting me try.”

She flips the autopilot back on, and you both gaze out at the sky. It occurs to you that you’re in the cockpit of a private plane, and the sun is setting in front of you and it’s beautiful, and _she’s_ beautiful in the warm light - well, she’s always beautiful but c’mon, it’s a sunset - and what are you even _doing_ here?

Asami glances at you out of the corner of her eye, and she _definitely_ caught you staring at her. She doesn’t mention it, however. She simply asks, “So, why didn’t you tell me about your project?”

Oh, right. “I… er- it’s not a big deal.”

Asami motions back to the cabin with her head. “It was to Kuvira.”

“Right…” You look down at your fingers in your lap. “We uh, could use some advice, and Kuvira found out that we were meeting, and she wanted me to ask you. And then I accepted your offer to work on the factory, and she was afraid I wasn’t serious about our project anymore.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me, whatever it is?” You raise your eyes to meet Asami’s, and she looks kind of hurt.

“I didn’t want you to think I only wanted something from you…”

Understanding dawns on her. “Oh, Korra. I don’t- I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that. I _don’t_ think that. You’ve helped me so much, of course I want to return the favor.” After a moment she playfully adds, “Besides, why wouldn’t I want to hear what it is you two get up to?”

You laugh. “I guess I don’t blame you. One second.” You take off your headset and disentangle yourself from your seat. You set a hand on your bag, and for a moment you consider taking a picture of Kuvira’s wide, snoring mouth and asinine sleeping position, but you figure you sort of owe her, so you decide to let her get away with this one. You shoulder your bag and head back into the cockpit. You settle back into your seat and start to rifle through your bag, looking for the appropriate notes. 

“Uh,” Asami starts. “Why don’t you just tell me about it, first? Before your bag explodes all over the cockpit?” 

You feel your cheeks flare, but you laugh it off and launch into your lengthy explanation. You’re afraid you’re boring - no one finds fish and habitats as interesting as you do, not even Kuvira. But it turns out that Asami is a really good listener, and you’re almost disappointed when you finally see Republic City on the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I hope you guys meant it when you said you were cool with long chapters. 
> 
> I'm experimenting a lot, ~~and this continues to go un-beta'd,~~ so let me know what you like, what you don't like and how I messed up grammatically. It's all very helpful!  
>  Edit 12/19: This is now beta'd by the incomparable osmrice. So if you re-read this chapter and you're like, "Man, this is way better than I remember it!" that's why.
> 
> Thanks for all your comments, I really love hearing from you. See you next week!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami has work to do.

Bolin is pacing back and forth in front of your desk, and it’s starting to give you a headache. 

“Okay, but when you say ‘ _Korra_ ,’ you mean a person? A human person?”

You set your pen down and look up from the reports you were _trying_ to review. “Yes, Bolin, a human person.”

“Right, okay, but like... you don’t talk to human people.”

You tuck your hand under your chin and pout indignantly. “I have meetings with lots of people.”

Bolin places his hands flat on your desk and leans forward. “Yeah, but those are _business_ people, not _people_ people.”

“I’ll try not to be offended by that,” you grumble. 

Bolin continues as if he hadn’t heard you. “And you just _spring_ it on me, that a person person- er, people person-”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” you deadpan.

“-a _person_ , is coming here, today, to see you?” He pulls his Blackberry out of his pocket and uses the little stylus - a _stylus_ , for god’s sake - to start flipping through your calendar. “Wait, is this the woman I had to cancel your lunch for last Sunday? The biologist?”

You cross your arms and arch an eyebrow. “She’s an ecologist, but yes. You were very supportive at the time, if I remember correctly.” 

“I was teasing you! You know, like we do!” He gestures between you. “Bolin and Asami, we tease, ha ha! I didn’t actually expect you to go out and make a friend! A human friend, no less.” Bolin looks at you, amazed. “I’m…” he feigns a dramatic sniff, “I’m just so _proud_.”

You roll your eyes. “I’m firing you.”

“But, Asami,” Bolin crouches behind your desk with his fingers on the edge so you can only see his huge, sad, puppy eyes. “Who would be your _other_ human friend?”

“Please pack your things and be out by the end of the day,” you say seriously. Through your open office door, you hear the phone on Bolin’s desk ring. You both look in the direction of the doorway, then back at each other. “Answer that first though.”

Bolin cackles, pleased with himself, as he leaves the room. You hear him answer distantly in the hallway, “Ms Sato’s office.”

Your phone buzzes on your desk and you pick it up.

 **Korra (4:14pm):** i wanted to surprise you with coffee but i realized i don’t know how you take it. so, what’s your coffee order? i’m asking for a friend

You laugh and start to type out a response. Out of the corner of your eye you see Bolin lean his torso through the doorway, but he doesn’t enter. “Asami?”

 **Asami (4:15pm):** Tell your friend that my order is plain coffee with a little milk, no sugar.

You glance up from your phone and see that Bolin looks serious, and a little sad. “Yeah?” you answer, with a little hesitance.

“It’s him.” The remnants of your smile drop off your face. “He’s insistent, but I can tell him you went to space or something.”

It’s tempting, but you won’t be able to avoid him forever. “No, it’s fine. Put him through.”

Bolin’s brow furrows, but he just nods and ducks back out of the doorway, shutting the door behind him. 

When your office phone flashes you take a deep, steadying breath and answer. “Asami speaking.”

“Asami,” comes the deep, rumbling response. Your stomach hurts.

“Good afternoon,” you say shortly. You hear the wobble in your voice and you force yourself to swallow it down.

“Are you… how are you?” your father asks politely.

You’re desperate to end this as quickly as you can. “I’m well, what can I do for you?”

He hesitates, which surprises you. He’s never been unsure of himself before. “I’ve had a look at this quarter’s numbers.”

You place your elbow on your desk and lean your forehead against your hand. “And how have you managed that? The numbers have nothing to do with you, and you’re definitely not supposed to be able to look at them.”

His voice becomes hard, all hesitance gone. “There are still people loyal to the vision that I was build-”

“Actually, you know what?” you say lightly. “I don’t care how you got the numbers, and I don’t care what you have to say about them.”

“Asami, we both know that the company is in trouble. You have to make some concessions if you’re going to continue. I don’t want to see what’s left of my legacy fall to pieces.” He’s using his patient, condescending tone, the one you’ve always hated.

“These matters don’t concern you, and I’ll thank you to keep your opinions to yourself. Now, if that’s all…?” You try to match his tone, but anger is slipping through the cracks.

“The Cabbage Corp pipeline is a chance to save yourself.”

That catches you off guard. “You- you’ve always hated Cabbage Corp, and now you want me to work with them?”

He clears his throat. “I’ve always done what was right for the company.”

You scoff. “Right for yourself, you mean. Not for the company, and certainly not for the world at large.” You grip the armrest of your chair and will yourself not to lose your temper.

“I’m an engineer, Asami, I only create. You of all people should understand. What those creations are used for-”

“Holy shit, I don’t want to hear this. People _died_ because of those mecha suits,” you interrupt incredulously, _furiously_. 

His temper flares, and you hate that it makes you feel like a child, small and scared. “The profits from the sale of the suits to the north would have catapulted Future Industries! We wouldn’t be having this problem, if you hadn’t, just, given it all away!”

“First of all, _we_ aren’t having this problem, _you_ have nothing to do with Future Industries anymore. And second, I used that money to help rebuild the country _you_ helped _destroy_.”

Your father takes a long breath and says with a calmer voice, “Take the pipeline contract, Asami. You know you have to, I’m just reinforcing what you know to be true. Be reasonable.”

“Being reasonable made you a monster, apparently. I’m _done_ being reasonable.” You slam the phone down with a satisfying bang, and it actually makes you feel a little better. Then you cringe, because that was _not_ a good parting line.

You can feel your heartbeat in your ears, and you take a deep breath and let it out slowly. That wasn’t that bad, you tell yourself, all things considered. You held your ground, which wasn’t always the case when it came to your Dad. Though, the fact that he wants you to work with Cabbage Corp is definitely disconcerting. You haven’t heard from him in almost a year... why now?

You hear a hesitant knock at the door. “Come in,” you call, and you’re proud of the way your voice has regained its normal register. 

The door cracks open and Bolin peeks his head in. “Asami?” His face is etched with worry. 

“Yeah?” you answer with false casualness.

He motions with a thumb behind him. “Korra’s here.”

“Go ahead and send her in.” You shuffle some papers around your desk to avoid looking at him.

“Asami?” he repeats.

“Hmm?” you hum without looking up.

He lowers his voice a little. “You good?”

You raise your head and give him a reassuring smile. “I’m good, thanks.”

He doesn’t look totally convinced, but he slides back out of the room. After a moment, Korra walks in carrying a drink holder and a brown paper bag with a gym bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair is damp at the edges, and she’s wearing a pair of jeans and a zip-up hoodie. You definitely don’t notice how it hugs her in all the right ways. “Hey, sorry, I was running a little late and I didn’t have time to go home and change after the gym…” She motions to her outfit with the drink carrier in her hand. 

You smile, and you know it’s thin, but it’ll have to do. “Don’t be silly, I don’t care. As long as you don’t mind if I take off my heels, they’re pretty uncomfortable.” You stand and motion towards the small sitting area you have by the large window in your office. There’s a coffee table surrounded by a couple of comfortable chairs, and a couch you’ve slept on too many times. Korra sets the drinks and paper bag down on the table before pulling her gym bag off her shoulders.

She chuckles, “Definitely not, I don’t even know how you wear those things…” She trails off as you slip off your heels. You’re left in just your tights, and the carpet feels _amazing_ after being in heels all day. You glance back up at her and she’s watching you and you’re suddenly exceptionally self conscious, which is kind of a new thing for you. Her eyes move to yours as soon as you lift your head before quickly turning away. When you bend to place the shoes under your desk, you let your hair drape in front of your face so you can hide your smile.

You grab your notebook from your desk and walk over while she takes a seat in one of the chairs. “Did your friend get my coffee order right?” you ask playfully.

She smiles, picking up a cup and extending it to you. “Only one way to find out.” She pulls two plastic containers out of the bag. “I uh, got salads. You know, to make up for what we did to our bodies the last time we did this.”

“That’s perfect, actually. Thank you.” You sit in a chair opposite her, leaning forward over the table and taking an exploratory sip of the coffee. It isn’t too hot, and it has the right amount of milk. 

She reaches back into the bag and pulls out another container. “But I also got pie because well… pie.”

“Ah, but what kind?” you ask her, amused. 

“Peanut butter.”

Peanut butter was your mom’s favorite. It’s yours too - when it has chocolate in it - but that was something you and your mother shared, and it startles you that Korra has picked that flavor, amongst all the other flavors of pie in the world. Worse, you realize that it’s the first time you’ve thought of your mother in several days, and there’s a flare of guilt in your chest.

Korra has stopped unpacking the food, and is simply studying you. Her head is slightly tilted, lips barely parted. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes are mapping your face, and you realize that you stalled when she answered your question. She leans back away from you a little and gives you a small smile that doesn’t seem to have all of Korra within it. “You’re not allergic to peanuts, are you?”

“No, no.” You smirk distractedly. “It’s a good choice, we can continue to be friends.” When you look back at her, she isn’t smiling anymore. She seems to be considering something, head still tilted, and you busy yourself by opening your container of salad and selecting a plastic fork. You open the box and start to stab at the contents. “This looks delic-”

“Would you like to come with me somewhere?” Korra blurts.

You pause, the fork halfway to your mouth. “Right now?”

She’s watching you calmly, but you can see her fingers fidgeting in her lap. “Yes. It’ll be quick, but you can bring your salad if you want.”

“Al-alright. I’ll leave the salad but let me just put my shoes on.” You rise slowly.

Korra is already up and heading for the door. “Nah, leave ‘em. We aren’t going far.” She doesn’t look back, she just takes fast, confident strides out of the office. 

After a moment’s hesitation, you follow her, hurrying to catch up. She’s leaning over Bolin’s desk, and Bolin is speaking to her quietly while she listens intently, nodding. He points down the hall, then quirks his hand to the right, indicating another hallway. Korra gives him a casual salute, and looks back at you. “Coming?”

You nod slowly, raising an eyebrow at Bolin, who simply smiles. O… kay…

Korra follows the direction Bolin had pointed out to her, leading you around your own building. It doesn’t seem strange though - Korra exudes a completely confident and comfortable air, even though you know she isn’t familiar with these hallways.

She finally leads you to the stairwell, and swings open the metal door, holding it open behind her for you to grab it. You follow her up, and she walks up one flight before stopping in front of the door to the next floor of offices. “You know, presidents and CEOs of companies usually have their offices on the top floor of their buildings, but you don’t.”

You hear the question behind her statement. “This… this is the floor Hiroshi’s office is- _was_ \- on, and when he left and I fired all of the people he worked closest with, I just… I guess I didn’t want to move into it. Honestly, I didn’t want anything to do with it, so I kept my office and left my people where they were and left this floor empty.”

Korra nods, but doesn’t say anything. She continues up another flight of stairs before reaching the door to the roof, which she throws open and dramatically holds open for you. You haven’t been on the roof in some time. There’s a small garden area for company functions that you’d forgotten about, and a helicopter pad that you’d only ever used with your father. You wonder who is taking care of the garden, and make a mental note to find out.

You follow Korra around the helicopter pad platform to the side of the building opposite the roof entrance. She walks to the short concrete wall at the edge and she gracefully vaults forward to sit on it, her back to you. You stand at the wall, looking at her while she stares off over Republic City. After a moment she turns to you with a friendly smile and pats the space next to her. You accept the invitation and your bare feet swing out off the ledge to join Korra’s sneakers. You can’t help but immediately look down. There’s a ledge that juts out a few feet below where your legs are dangling, so it’s not like you’re going to die if you fall. This high up though, with nothing but sky and Korra in your peripheral vision, it sort of feels like you’re flying.

You sit in comfortable silence for several minutes. It doesn’t feel awkward, it just... _is_. It’s freeing, being outside with just your thoughts and Korra. She seems perfectly at peace, leaning back on her arms and in no rush to break the silence. For a while you’re just watching her, the small, crooked smile on her face, the breeze picking up her hair, her wide eyes that reflect the sky. It doesn’t take long before she notices you watching her instead of the city below you. She doesn’t move her head, but you see her eyes skirt to the side and find you. She picks up her legs and crosses them, leaning forward to rest her arms on her thighs.

“A lot of people think I’m a biologist,” she says with a good natured smile and you suppress a laugh. “And I get why they would think that. But, biology is about life. The self. What makes it tick, that sort of thing. Ecology is more about relationships. The interactions _between_ the life. How life works and fits together.” She lets the sentence hang, and you wait for her to continue. “There are all these different ecosystems and all these different types of life living within them, and they have to make it work together.” She tilts her head slightly to gaze at you, and you nod to show that you’re listening.

“Sometimes I think humans believe they’re exempt from that. That they live outside of everywhere else. We build our own ecosystems and we work together, yeah, but we don’t really work with anything else. We make them work for us, maybe, but not _with_ us.” She looks down at her hands, pausing as if to gather her thoughts. She’s in no hurry, and neither are you.

“But they _want_ to work with us. There’s so much that the other life out there will do for us, if we just let it. The river and earth _want_ to give us the energy we need. It’s just there, for the taking, and we can take care of it in return. We don’t have to dig it out of the ground and take what we want. It’s just _there_.” She gestures at the city animatedly. “Look at how _beautiful_ we are. Look at what we _make_. There are millions of people down there and everyone is co-existing and it’s _amazing_.” Her eyes are alight and passionate, and much like when she explained her project to you on the plane, you think you could listen to her all day.

She brings her arms down to rest again. She turns her head to look at you sheepishly. “But, I’m not one of those people that make. I have an idea of how we can work together better with the other ecosystems, but I don’t have the mind to make it function. But you do.” Your inclination is to look away, but you force yourself to maintain eye contact. “I know Hiroshi made Future Industries. But now you have it, and you have all of his intelligence and none of the… other stuff. You’re more than all that, and you’ll make Future Industries more than all that too. You could do whatever you want, but somehow, your vision aligns with mine. You want this ecosystem” -she nods towards the city- “to work _with_ the other ones. And it’s hard. It’s really hard; Kuvira and I butted heads with a lot of powerful people in Zaofu. But it can’t be _wrong_ , can it?” She looks sad, and a little desperate.

Neither of you say anything for a long moment. You clear your throat. “No,” you say quietly. “It’s not wrong.”

Her smile is grateful, though her eyes are still sad. “And something tells me you aren’t a stranger to hard.” That does it, you have to glance down to your hands, avoiding the eyes that make you feel exposed and vulnerable. “I think we could do it, if you want,” she continues. “I want to study and figure out how we can all fit together better. And you want to make cool shit.” You smile; she’s not wrong. “I think we could make that happen together.”

You playfully bump your elbow against hers. “You know, you already accepted my offer before.”

She laughs. “I know, but now you know why I did. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe you were the right person.” The way she’s looking at you is everything you didn’t know you needed. It’s earnest and open, and you’ve never met anyone so unguarded. It’s frightening and exhilarating. 

You both resume looking out over the city while silence settles over you again like a blanket. After a while you whisper, “I think I’m ready to make it happen.”

Korra whips her head around to you. “Excellent!” she says enthusiastically, and she springs up to stand on the ledge. She extends a hand down to help you up, and you take it. When you stand, you don’t let go, and your clasped hands hover between you. She’s looking at you patiently, like she knows you want to say something. 

“How… how did you know I needed this?” You gesture vaguely at your surroundings with your other hand. 

“Hm? Oh, you mean, outside?” You nod. She looks down at the ground and rubs her neck with her free hand. You notice one of her feet tapping behind the other one. “It worked before, I thought maybe it would work again.”

“What did?”

“Space. Before, in Ba Sing Se, you were distant. Upset, maybe. And you didn’t seem to want to eat in the restaurant. Like you didn’t want to be cooped up in the building. Getting some space seemed to help you feel better. I was hoping it would work again, if we got you out of the office a little. Get perspective, you know?”

You’re completely dumbfounded. Not only had Korra correctly read your mood _twice_ \- and you know you’re not easy to read, it’s a skill you’ve practiced - but she knew exactly what you needed when you didn’t. It makes so much sense now. “You’re right,” you breathe. “I do almost all my work inside. It’s claustrophobic sometimes.”

She smiles hugely and kindly. “Yeah, I get it. I work outside a lot, so when I need perspective I kind of like it when I’m in a thing. Still outside, you know, but like, a part of a space. Like walking through a forest or swimming in a lake. Get a little bit more on the micro level. Does that make sense?”

You nod, and you can feel your own genuine smile returning to its place. “It does.”

She hops with both feet down from the ledge, but moves her arm so she doesn’t have to let go of your hand. She leaves it there, like she’s helping you down, but instead you mirror her jump and hop down next to her. It surprises her and makes her grin wider. When you make it to the door, you drop her hand and pull the door open, playfully gesturing her inside with your arm. She laughs, tilts her head in thanks, and walks into the stairwell.

You follow her inside, and you have a suspicion that it’s not just the space that makes you feel better.

Bolin is _insufferably_ smug by the time you and Korra return. As soon as you round the corner and he sees your face he lights up. He tries to hide it by taking a long sip from his coffee, but it’s obvious he’s grinning. As you pass, you see him give Korra a surreptitious thumbs up. You’re behind her though, so you can’t see her reaction, though you do notice her head dip a little in his direction. Once you come close enough, you lean far over his desk, and he regards you smugly. “You’re not as subtle as you think, jerk-face,” you hiss. 

“My dear Asami,” he whispers. “I’m not subtle _at all_. And neither are _you_.” You huff and petulantly knock some of his papers onto the floor before walking away. “Hey!”

You turn slightly, just enough to stick your tongue out at him. He’s laughing, still sitting in his chair but bent in half, collecting his papers. He returns the gesture. You turn back just as you’re entering your office, and you almost walk straight into Korra, who is standing at the threshold, a bemused look on her face. “Ah, s-sorry,” you stutter.

“You guys are cute,” she says as she follows you back to the couch.

“Don’t let him hear you say that, I’ll never hear the end of it.” You pop open your container of salad again and resume eating. “So, what did you bring me?”

Korra pulls her gym bag to her and grabs a folder that’s bent a little at the corners. She lays it on the coffee table. “This is the turbine.” She takes out several sheets with diagrams on them. “How familiar are you with hydroelectric generators?”

“I haven’t dealt with them before, but I get the basic idea. Build a dam, hold water in a reservoir, control the release of the water, water spins the turbine, energy, blah blah.” You gesture in circles with your fork.

Korra chuckles. “That’s about it, really. The finer points of sticking a generator on a river is more Kuvira’s thing. I’m dealing with how to keep turbines from killing fish.” She pulls out another diagram, this one with parts labeled. “This is what the currently used turbines look like.”

“It looks like a ship propeller,” you observe.

“Yes, it does. So, there are a bunch of blades on it, which can hurt or kill the fish, and there are these gaps, right? The fish can get trapped in there.” She pulls out her design for the turbine. “So, I originally wanted to get rid of the blades, but they need to exist in some way, right, to spin the rotor.”

“Are you sure you aren’t an engineer?” You’re genuinely surprised at what Korra’s managed to accomplish.

Korra scrunches her face. “No, thank you. I took some classes at university but they’ve shaved off years of my life. Kuvira and I almost killed each other. How do you do this everyday?”

You smirk but ignore the question. “But seriously, this is impressive. You’ve sloped three blades around each other instead, like a drill,” you trace the curve of the blades with a finger, “so that there’s a channel for the fish instead within the blades.”

“Y-yeah! That’s the idea. The turbine has to move more slowly though, so that’s a bit of a problem.” Korra frowns. “It can be justified though, since spillways and other bypass systems designed for fish are expensive, but in energy consumption and cost.”

You’re starting to get excited. “Okay, so it can be slower, but not too much.” You pick up a pencil and push away your half eaten salad. “May I?” You gesture with your pencil at the diagrams. Korra pushes them towards you in invitation. You jot down a few notes. “You’ve done small scale testing?”

“Yep, it works, at least on the fish front. It’s too slow and it doesn’t seem to take as much abuse as normal turbines.”

“Great, great, that’s great,” you murmur absentmindedly while writing.

You can see Korra’s confused look out of the corner of your eye. “It is?”

You can’t help the smile that creeps across your face. You don’t bother looking at Korra though, you have work to do. “Yes, this can be fixed. Give me some time with it? Can you hang out, or do you want to come back tomorrow?”

Korra shrugs. “I can hang out. I’ll work on some habitat stuff for the factory.”

You lean back and turn your head towards the door of your office. “Bolin! Hey! Can you come in here?” you shout. You grab your notebook and rip a piece of paper out of it.

After a moment Bolin appears at the door. “What kind of CEO are you? You have an intercom!”

“No time,” you brush him off and scribble down a list. “I need some energy consumption numbers and cost estimates.” You hold the scrap of paper out to him, and he stalks over and takes it from you. “Thank youuuu Ineedthoseassoonaspossible thank youuuu,” you say sweetly.

“I take it you’re rehiring me,” Bolin says dryly as he heads for the door.

“Yes and you need a raise- Oh! Wait! Also, I need like,” you turn to Korra and lower your voice. “What kind of fish are we talking about here?”

She considers. “Um, some kind of trout would be a good, they’re sort of large and common. They weigh like, 25, 30 pounds.”

You twist back around. “Like, 300 pounds of trout!”

“What!” Bolin stops and whirls around in disbelief.

“10, 12 trout should be enough, right?” you ask Korra. She bobs her head side to side in agreement.

“Yeah, like 12 trout,” you confirm with Bolin.

He looks ill. “I… I’m going on strike.”

“And I need them by tomorrow,” you add.

“You had _better_ not be joking about that raise,” Bolin grumbles as he leaves the office.

“Oh! Bolin!”

“ _What_?” he yells from the hallway.

“Just to clarify, they need to be alive!” You hear an indistinct, loud groan and you turn back to Korra sheepishly. “I’m not joking about the raise.”

Korra laughs. “I’d go on strike with him if you were.

\--

Peanut butter pie must be particularly decadent at two in the morning, because the slice Korra brought is _incredible_. You’re sitting next to Korra on the floor, legs crossed under the coffee table and trading bites with her. She had brought her own, but hours ago when you’d told Bolin he could go home, she had gotten up with her slice and disappeared into the hall for a moment before reappearing, pie-less. When you finally decided to eat it, you had offered her the first bite, but when you handed her the plastic fork, she had cut off a bite from the crust first. You couldn’t stop the horrified look you gave her. She just shrugged with a smile and handed back the fork, and you cut off a piece from the tip, like a _normal_ person.

Now, licking the remnants of pie off the tines of your fork, you’re watching her again. She’s slouched over the coffee table, legs curled underneath her. Korra is drawing her desert habitats, the ones you had seen sketches of before. They’re beautiful and detailed, elegant curves and clean lines. She’s neatly labeled dimensions on the sides, and there are several lists of animal needs in the margins, reminders you don’t think she needs. She doesn’t seem to notice your blatant staring, so you take the opportunity to observe her hands. They’re slightly calloused, and you can see the rivers of veins on the back of her left hand, moving with her knuckles as she draws. Her fingernails are short and clean, which surprises you since she works so much with her hands. Her right hand is planted flat on the page, occasionally spinning the page slightly for a better angle. She has a mesmerizing rhythm and _why can’t you stop noticing things about her_?

You set your fork down, and the sound startles Korra. “Sorry,” you say with an apologetic smile. 

She sighs, sets down her pen and rotates her wrist, so her palm is up and flexes her fingers, but doesn’t crack them. You can see that the left side of her hand is painted in dark blue ink. She stretches, her arms straight up in the air, and it makes her shirt ride up a little. You see the beginnings of a _very_ defined abdomen before you snap your attention back to her face. “S’okay, I could use a break. What time is it?”

You already know, because of your pie deliciousness theory. “A little after two.”

She yawns. “How’s it going?”

“Better than it was. I think I’ve figured it out now.” You start pulling all the papers you had scattered all over the table towards you. 

She perks up at that. “Oh yeah?” She shimmies closer to get a better look.

“So, the main problem with the weakness that you were experiencing is that the blades are made of too many separate pieces. It was easier to design it that way, but it can’t withstand all the force from the water.” You push your fist into your other hand for emphasis. “Then, you have it funnel into the draft tube, but I think you need to extend that and fit it around the blades, that way you eliminate any gaps.”

Korra rubs her eyes. “How many pieces will it made out of?”

You count them on your fingers. “Three blades, a crown to weld them to, the cover…” You trail off for a moment. “Seven, at most. You’ll cut down on cost, and it’ll be stronger.”

Korra nods. “What about speed?”

“Oh, right. That isn’t an issue, I just took in the blades a few more degrees and cut redundancies to reduce the drag.”

Her body is turned completely towards you, and she leans her elbow against the table and props up her chin with a hand. She looks down at your modifications in wonder. “It’s so simple.”

You grin. “The best designs are. You almost had it, really. You just needed someone with the right background to bring it together. All I have are Kuvira’s measurements and diagrams, but she seems to be right about where to put the generator. It would be perfect, and the turbine would work. I’ll need to get to get these to my engineering team to build the prototype right away, though.”

Korra blanches. “Asami I can’t ask-”

“You aren’t,” you interrupt. “I’m offering.”

“Yeah, but-”

“That brings up another problem though.” You tap your chin. “You guys need a company.”

“I- what?”

“You and Kuvira. I suppose you could jointly own the patent, but it’s a lot simpler to start a company and have the company own the patent.”

Korra sputters, “S-simpler?” She holds both hands up, telling you to slow down. “Asami, we don’t know the first thing about owning a company.”

“That’s why I’ll invest. It would be best if I can convince the board to make Future Industries an investor, and I think I can, but if not then I’ll just invest privately.” Korra stills, and grows very quiet, an unreadable look on her face. “What’s wrong?”

After a long moment of her just searching your eyes, she asks, “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me- _us_ so much?”

Your brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she gestures vaguely, “everything! All of this! We hardly know each other, and yet here you are, putting your time and money into this project, and I don’t know _why_.” Korra looks pained. “Besides, you own this turbine just as much as we do now.”

“I did one night’s work on it, just to clean it up. The idea is yours.” You take both of Korra’s hands in your own. They’re warm. “Korra, I’m not entirely sure how two scientists designed this, but it’s good. It’s great, in fact. You have to protect yourself, especially if you’re going to be working with Varrick. I would invest even if I didn’t know you or Kuvira. It’s just good business. And,” you feel your cheeks heat up, “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I want to see you guys succeed. You’re one of the good guys. Even without the turbine I would suggest that you both start a consulting firm or something.”

Korra is staring at you, slack jawed. You try to lower the guard that you’ve spent years building to let her in and see that you’re being genuine. The silence is thick in the air until Korra finally whispers, “O-okay.” You smile. “I need to talk to Kuvira first, though”

You nod sagely. “You can volunteer her for a multi-billion yuan factory project, but starting a business that she co-owns without her might be going a bit far.”

Korra snorts. “Just a bit.”

“What about you? Any thoughts on your habitats?” You run your fingers through your hair.

She always rubs the back of her neck when she’s nervous or embarrassed, you’ve noticed. “Ah, yeah, I always get carried away though. We can talk about it, but I’m actually starving. Do you guys have some vending machines in the building?”

“We do, but there’s also a Waffle House around the corner. We’re practically on a first name basis at this point. I think the night chef’s name is Jong.”

Korra springs up, and you’re a little offended that she has so much energy right now. “Hell yes, let’s go.” Korra shrugs on her hoodie that she had discarded over the couch arm.

You stand, and your knees pop angrily. You walk stiffly to your desk and slip on your heels. Korra offers you her arm. “Do you think Jong would be willing to make a smiley face in my waffle with chocolate chips?”

You slip your arm through the crook of her elbow. “I think Jong is a very flexible person.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just kiss already you _nerds_.
> 
> Look, yes, every chapter is going to revolve around food. That's how my life is; I don't know how to write a scene without it.
> 
> Okay! That's almost all the science out of the way, I appreciate your patience with that. But, lots of fluff to make up for it, right?
> 
> I have a hilariously neglected [tumblr](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/) (seriously, I have two posts and one is from 2011) that I will try to be better about, if anyone would prefer to follow updates there. I posted some hopefully helpful pictures of the turbine Korra and Asami work on, along with a diagram of regular turbines there. (It might make things less confusing?) I'm uh, still using the default theme from four years ago until I figure out how to change things and make it look not totally terrible. I did, however, open an ask(?) box, if there are questions or advice on how to tumblr (please.) Feel free to send me prompts too, if you like, but I won't be able to get to them until after Company has ended. Company started because of a prompt, so who knows?
> 
> See you early next week.
> 
> Edit 12/20: osmrice beta, make _much_ better, thank goodness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra loses her chill, if she ever had it to begin with.

The morning comes so suddenly that it puts spots in your eyes. Light is streaming in through Asami’s large windows, making your eyes water, and a high-pitched siren is digging its way through your skull. You’re so startled that your feet slide off the coffee table and a cascade of papers are sent into the air.

“Bolin. Bolin! Please. Please stop.” Asami groans from below you. The siren cuts short with a squeak. You feel a pressure on your thighs shift and you crack open an eye to see Asami lifting her head off your lap which - when did that happen? She’s disorientingly dragging herself off your lap, trying to find leverage, and her _extremely_ cold fingers brush your side where your shirt has ridden up a little. You yelp in surprise, twisting away, and Asami springs up, her teeth set apologetically. “S-sorry! I’m sorry, cold fingers.”

You sit up further out of your slouch and grumpily rub your eyes. “Fingers couldn’t be that cold even if they were engineered in a lab.”

Her eyes narrow and the corner of her mouth twitches and _oh, shit_. She lurches forward and digs her fingers back under your shirt and into your sides. You screech in a _highly_ embarrassing way and slide backwards off the couch, desperate to get away. When you sit back up, Asami looks playfully smug and… blurry. Right. You fumble for your glasses on the coffee table and slip them on. Asami’s smirk has disappeared, replaced with something distant you don’t recognize. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

You shrug. “I usually just wear contacts, but I take them out before bed.” You point to the contacts case on the coffee table. “I took them out after you fell asleep.”

Asami looks sheepish. “Thanks, by the way…” She picks up your hoodie from where it’s pooled on her lap.

“No worries.” You take the hoodie from her and shrug it on. It’s pleasantly warm, and smells like your fabric softener but also something new that you can’t place.

Asami turns to glare at Bolin, who looks positively giddy, standing there behind the couch glancing between the two of you. “Why did I rehire you?”

“You mean _besides_ the fact that I managed to get you a dozen live trout at a moment’s notice?” There’s a crinkle of paper as Bolin lifts his arms, revealing a drink carrier and a bag from behind the couch. “I brought coffee and bagels.”

You stifle a yawn and perk up. “Bagels?”

“Coffee?” Asami stands and stretches, and for a moment you forget all about the bagels.

Bolin places the aforementioned goods on the table. “Soooo how’d it go last night?”

Asami nods sleepily and accepts the coffee labeled with her name. “Pretty well. Can you call down to the guys and ask them if they got the schematics I sent them last night? I want to meet them as soon as they’re ready.”

You’re grasping at your pockets, growing increasingly uncomfortable. “Um, have you seen my phone?”

Asami kneels to dig under the couch cushions. “Was it in your hoodie?”

“Maybe? I don’t really remember, it was like four in the morning.”

“Oh, got it,” she announces and hands it to you. 

You feel a spike of panic when you turn on the screen. “Eight messages?” you mumble to yourself. There’s four missed calls, too.

**Kuvira (7:06am):** where r u what happened with asami yesterday

“When are the fish arriving?” Asami asks.

**Kuvira (7:09am):** did u leave already or did u not come home last night??

Bolin takes an enormous bite of a bagel and says around his mouthful, “Sometime between noon and one.”

**Kuvira (7:23am):** aright when u wake u p call me im going to raikos

**Kuvira (7:36am):** i hope asamis right about this

“Good, what time is it?” Asami is across the room at her desk, aggressively brushing her hair.

**Missed Call: Kuvira (7:48am)**

**Kuvira (7:49am):** asshole wake upp!!

Bolin glances at his phone. “Nine-thirty.” You wince. Kuvira is going to kill you.

**Missed Call: Kuvira (7:53am)**

**Missed Call: Kuvira (7:54am)**

**Kuvira (8:08am):** korra seriusly

**Kuvira (8:20am):** where are u!!!!

**Missed Call: Kuvira (8:32am)**

Asami lifts her blouse to her nose. “Ugh, I smell like burnt hashbrowns.”

**Kuvira (8:48am):** korrakorrakorrakorrakorrakorrakorrakorrakorrakorrrrrraa

“Do you need a change of clothes?” Bolin asks from the doorway.

“I have an old shirt in my desk drawer, that’ll do until I can go home and shower.” Asami shrugs. “It’s just the engineers anyway, they won’t care. I’ll go home after and be back once the prototype is done.” Asami starts to unbutton her blouse and suddenly the ground is _super_ interesting.

“Okay, I’ll call them now.” Bolin shoves the rest of his bagel into his mouth and shuts the door as he leaves.

What… what are you supposed to do now? Has Asami forgotten that you’re here? She’s just taking her top - _oh_ \- she has a camisole under her blouse. Okay. That’s… that’s good. Is that really relief you’re feeling? Who knows.

You hear heavy footsteps and loud, indistinct talking coming from outside the office. Asami throws you a confused look while she slips on a clean, white blouse.

“Yeah but- ah! Wait!” Bolin protests before the door swings open violently and Kuvira barges in. She stops in her tracks when she sees Asami working on her half-buttoned top.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorr- Korra! You _are_ here!” Kuvira immediately forgets her previous embarrassment as soon as she spots you, still on the floor, phone in hand. “What the _shit_ , why didn’t you answer?” She stalks over.

You stand stiffly. “I just saw them, we were asleep.” You cringe at your poor choice of words. Kuvira turns purposefully to look at Asami, who is facing away from you now, buttoning up her shirt. You can see a faint tinge of pink on her ears. “I mean- uh, we fell asleep after working last night.” You brighten. “Oh, guess what! Asami fixed the design! We’re building the prototype today, and we’re going test-”

“That’s great, really, but,” Kuvira interrupts, “we have a meeting with the president of the United Republic in” -she glances at her watch- “two hours.”

You sputter, “ _What_?”

“I went to Raiko’s office before he got in and took his assistant a box of eclairs just like Asami said.”

Asami chuckles. “She loves those. Without them I wonder if I would ever get anything done in this city.”

Kuvira nods dismissively. “Yeah, she was all over them. Anyway, the only time she could squeeze us in is at eleven-thirty today.”

Your eyes unfocus. “What do we do?”

Asami walks over confidently, smoothing her blouse. “Just what we said. You guys go get ready, collect everything you want to bring to the meeting, and I’ll meet with my engineers and then meet you at Raiko’s.” 

“You’re coming?” Kuvira looks relieved. “Good. That’s… good.” She turns to you and lowers her voice. “That’s good, right?”

You nod enthusiastically. “Yeah, it’s good. We should get going though.” You start to collect papers from the coffee table and the floor. “I need to stop off at the apartment and become-”

“Less greasy and haggard?” Kuvira interjects helpfully.

“-more _presentable_. I said I was sorry about the texts!” You find one of your shoes by the couch and bounce on one leg while hastily pulling it on.

“No, actually, you didn’t. But that’s fine, I just thought for several hours that you were dead in a ditch somewhere, no big deal.” She shoves you playfully before heading out. “See ya later, Asami.”

You can’t seem to find your other shoe, and you hurriedly look around for it so you can catch up to Kuvira. “Uh, thanks for this, Asami.” You spot your shoe under the coffee table so you scramble on all fours and crawl halfway under it so you can reach it. “That was a surprisingly fun all-nighter.”

You can practically hear Asami’s smirk when she says, “Yeah, but it wasn’t a date.”

You bang your head on the coffee table so hard you see stars.

\--

It isn’t until you’re in the lobby of the government building that you get nervous. The room is made surprisingly bright by its vaulted ceilings and long windows, and it’s warm and stifling. The clacking of dress shoes echo all over, and you wish they had thought to put some carpet down or play some music or _something_. Kuvira is tapping her feet against the tile and adjusting her cuffs while you wait for the elevator and then your brain catches up and oh, right, you’re meeting the President, you should probably be more nervous. Let’s get on that.

You can feel some sweat collecting behind your ears and you adjust your tie self consciously. Kuvira catches the movement and it almost seems to relax her, seeing that she isn’t alone in this. She takes your shoulders and moves you to look at her, and she takes hold of your tie to fix it for you. “It’s going to be fine,” she says without conviction as the elevator arrives and lets you on.

“I know,” you nod firmly, “I just wish it were over with already.”

“Whatever happens, happens. It’s not like we haven’t started over before.” You notice the outlines of Kuvira’s balled up fists in her pockets.

You smirk. “I would rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

Kuvira glances at you out of the corner of eye and cracks a smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll drink myself into a stupor at the nearest bar if this doesn’t go well.”

“Right there with you.” You check the time, and you’re still early, much to your relief. For such a modern and imposing building, Raiko’s elevator is comparatively archaic. You can’t help but wonder if its slow crawl is purposeful. The single light above you gives a feeble flicker, and you’d laugh if you didn’t want to throw up.

As the elevator comes to a slow stop you offer your fist to Kuvira, who raises her own and you fist bump as you’re stepping out of the elevator.

Raiko’s office is like something out of a postmodernist’s wet dream. The walls are stark white, but the room is dotted with brightly colored furniture. The entire floor is all sharp, straight lines and sloping curves. Your steps slow as you take it all in, but Kuvira is unperturbed, sidling up easily to the desk in front of the elevators. A middle-aged woman in round glasses greets her eagerly, and you decide that your time is better spent leaving her to Kuvira while you explore.

You wander past the desk and further into the office, which opens up into a sitting area. There’s a shelf with a coffee dispenser, and you collect one of the small cups to place under the spigot. You have to press the single, unlabeled button several times before anything happens. You curse softly under your breath when there’s a sudden, violent slurping noise and hot water fires into the cup. It only takes a couple of quick seconds before the cup is full and you stand there, feeling ridiculous as you wait for something else to happen. But no, it’s just a cup of hot water and there isn’t instant coffee or a tea bag in sight. You sigh, reluctantly picking up the cup, and glance around for a place to sit and contemplate your life choices.

There are several low chairs that look like they were cut out of a slab of hard, blood red plastic. You set your cup down on the white coffee table and sit, startled when the chair gives a slow, loud exhale and you sink into the chair with a hiss. Kuvira appears by your side, taking a seat in the chair next to you. “I don’t know if I’ve ever loved anything as much as that woman loves eclairs.” You glance back and you see the woman moving back and forth in her swivel chair, pastry in hand.

You pick your cup up from the table and offer it to Kuvira. “Water?”

Kuvira accepts it with a nod before almost dropping it. “Wha- why is it hot?” she whispers harshly.

“How should I know? Maybe it’s an art thing and you’re not actually supposed to use it?” You spread your hands out helplessly. Kuvira looks down into the steaming cup before shrugging and taking a tentative sip before wrapping both hands around the cup. 

The door to Raiko’s office creaks and a loud laugh escapes as it opens.The man exiting the office is one you recognize, but it takes you a moment to place him as the one who sat next to Asami on the electric cars panel from last weekend. The CEO of Cabbage Corp. He has a smile on his face that makes you shiver. You nudge Kuvira and raise an eyebrow, and she gives you a minute shrug.

“I appreciate your time, Mr. President. I’ll be in touch.”

Raiko shakes his hand. “My pleasure, Lau, I’m glad to to help however I can. Hiroshi certainly has an interesting proposal.”

Uh, _what_?

Lau looks uncomfortable, and he glances around the office. You turn and Kuvira’s right there, whispering to you about the weather while you pretend to listen intently, as if you had practiced it. You might have practiced it. Once or twice.

Lau clears his throat. “Yes… I hope we can find a solution that’s beneficial for everyone. Good day, Mr. President.”

“Lau.” Raiko nods and ducks back into his office, shutting the door behind him.

Lau is tapping furiously on his phone as he walks past you and out of sight, heading for the elevators. You lean towards Kuvira. “Hiroshi? What does he have to do with Cabbage Corp?”

Kuvira opens her mouth to respond when the elevator gives a soft ding upon its arrival and you hear Lau’s raspy voice from a distance. “Oh, good day, Ms. Sato.”

“Lau, lovely to see you,” Asami says, as if it were the least lovely thing to ever happen to her.

“I was just here to speak with the President…” Lau trails off.

Asami says cooly, “Yes, I suppose that’s what one does when visiting the President’s office.” Kuvira chokes on a sip of water and sputters loudly into her plastic cup. You take the cup from her hand gently while she tries to suppress her wracking coughs, barely containing a wide grin of your own. 

There’s a long stretch of silence before Lau finally speaks again. “Yes, well… my office called your assistant recently to work out a time for our… conversation, but you are apparently a very. Busy. Bee.” He punctuates each word.

“I apologize Lau, I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

“Of course. How is your father, by the way? Have you spoken to him recently?” You would really love to punch Lau in his slimy mouth right about now.

Asami’s voice sounds icy when she finally answers. “I imagine he’s doing quite well, but I’m afraid I don’t know. Good day, Mr. Gan-Lan.”

“Take care, Ms. Sato.” Not long after you hear the doors of the elevator close, Asami appears from around the desk. She meets your nervous smile with one of her own, but she’s overcompensating, you know. Her eyes linger on your tie momentarily, and you hope it isn’t crooked or anything.

“All good?” she asks quietly as she takes a seat on the other side of you. 

You smirk. “I’m fine, not sure about Kuvira though.”

Kuvira gives you a dark look while using a tissue to dab at her blazer. “Shut up.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed that.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “The engineer team is on the prototype, we should be good to test tomorrow.”

You nod. “Great. Though, I need to tell you someth-”

“President Raiko will see you now,” interrupts the secretary. She throws open the door to Raiko’s office and motions for you all to enter while you rise out of your seats. You chair reinflates with a crinkle of plastic.

Raiko’s office is significantly more comfortable looking than the rest of the floor. There’s thick, plush carpet underfoot, and the chairs look normal, if a bit dated. Raiko is sitting at his desk, looking tired and bored. He looks older, and there are lines on his face that you don’t see on television. He stands when you enter, and his eyes widen when he sees Asami. “Ms. Sato, I didn’t know you would be attending this appointment.”

Asami shakes his hand. “It was a last minute decision. Future Industries has a stake in what comes of this meeting so I thought it would be prudent that I attend.” She steps aside and puts a hand on your shoulder. “This is Korra and Kuvira, they’re here to propose the buying of public Republic City land.” It’s as if a switch has been flipped; Asami is completely different and it’s startling. 

He shakes your hand, then Kuvira’s. “Nice to meet you both. Very well, ladies, tell me about your proposition.” He gestures to the chairs facing his desk.

Kuvira stays standing and unrolls a map onto Raiko’s desk. “We’re interested in purchasing this land, zone twenty-four, in order to install a hydroelectric generator.”

“Zone twenty-four…” Raiko repeats slowly. “Who is planning on buying this land? You two or… Future Industries?”

You clear your throat. “Neither. Varrick Global Industries is the interested party. We’re merely here to propose the generator and negotiate the sale.”

Raiko looks confused. “I have to ask, Ms. Sato, but what is Future Industries’ stake in this? It doesn’t seem to benefit you at all.”

“I’m an investor in their consulting firm. They have plans to build a nature preserve on the land that Varrick purchases.”

“Oh, you have a consulting firm? What’s the name?”

You blanch. Shit. Asami turns to you, prompting you to come up with something but what on earth are you going to-

“Greater Unity Consulting,” Kuvira blurts.

_What_? What the hell does that even mean? Your eyes are burning a hole in the side of Kuvira’s head, but she’s staunchly refusing to look at you.

Asami also looks startled, but recovers quickly. “They’ve designed the turbine for the generator.”

Raiko scratches his chin. “Well, I suppose I don’t exactly have a problem with this except that zone twenty-four is included in a purchase currently being negotiated by Cabbage Corp.” He looks at Asami curiously. “I thought you were aware of this? It was my understanding that Future Industries was involved in the development of that land.”

Your eyes flick to Asami, but her face doesn’t betray whatever it is that she’s feeling. “No,” she says slowly, “I was not aware of that.”

Raiko looks genuinely confused. “I… see. Regardless, the city would benefit from either proposition. I certainly approve of the land being used for a generator and nature preserve, but at this point it’s out of my hands.”

You watch Asami’s jaw clench briefly. “You mean we’ll have to bid against them for the land.”

“That is what I’m saying, yes.”

Asami nods once. “Very well. We’ll be in touch.”

Raiko chuckles. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

You say your pleasantries but you can’t get out of the office and into the elevator fast enough. Once you do, however, none of you can bring yourselves to say anything.

It’s several floors before you feel like you’re going to explode if you don’t say anything. “Who in their right mind puts ‘ _great_ ’ in the name of their company?”

Asami snorts and Kuvira reddens before throwing her hands in the air. “I don’t know! I panicked and you’re always talking about unifying ecosystems or some shit and well, who names their company ‘Cabbage?’”

That reminds you. 

Asami is full on laughing now, her face in her hands. You touch her wrist gently to get her attention. “Asami?”

She drops her hands, huffing a few feeble last laughs, and her face is flushed. “Yeah?”

“We heard Raiko and that guy from Cabbage Corp mention Hiroshi when he was leaving.” Asami’s face falls, and your chest clenches. “Raiko said something about Hiroshi having an ‘interesting proposal.’”

Asami’s brow furrows in confusion, but as the door of the elevator open back into the lobby, Asami’s face clears. “Oh, my god.” she says under her breath. “How did I not see it before?” You and Kuvira have to hurry to catch up when Asami picks up the pace, her heels clacking loudly as she walks across the lobby. It isn’t until you’re back outside onto the street that she turns to you. “I have to go. Listen, Korra, can you come by tonight with your original turbine designs? We’ll need them to submit for the patent.” She turns to Kuvira. “Then, can we meet tomorrow and finish the paperwork for the company? I can come by your place.”

Kuvira nods. “Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?”

Asami smiles, something sparkling behind her eyes. “Yes, definitely. I just think it might be time to give Cabbage Corp a call and finally have that conversation.”

\--

Bolin looks harried when you arrive at Future Industries that evening. His hair is mussed and sticking out at odd angles, probably because he keeps grasping chunks of his hair and pulling on it absentmindedly. Across from his desk and lining the wall are a dozen large, white buckets. Occasionally water from one of the buckets will splash against the sides and splatter onto the wall and carpet. The hallway doesn’t smell amazing. 

You watch Bolin forcefully press the buttons of his office phone before shoving the receiver between his shoulder and ear. He’s rustling around his desk looking for something when he shouts angrily, “Yes, I’ll hold!” He spots you walking towards him from the elevators and puts up a hand in greeting. “Did you _know_ how much room and water these trout were going to need?”

“Er… yes?” you say hesitantly, because maybe that was something you should have mentioned.

His eyes are wide and desperate. “Because it’s a _lot_ more than I thought; where am I going to put them all?”

“You’re probably going to need about a hundred and fifty gall-” 

Bolin cuts you off, ignoring you. “And food! How much food do they need?” 

“If you would just listen, I can tell yo-”

“Yes? Hello? Hello! How quickly can you deliver a really big tank for a bunch of trout?” Bolin directs his attention back to the phone. Oh well. You point to the door of Asami’s office and he waves you off.

Asami’s office is dim and empty, and you have to fumble around in the dark for a light switch. You hear Bolin emphatically shout from the hallway, “How should I know if they’re adults? They’re fish!” You quietly shut the door and the rest of his tirade is muffled.

You set your bag down onto Asami’s desk before pulling out all of the designs and notes she had asked you to bring. You set them in a neat pile - or as neat a pile as you are capable of creating - and decide to wait a few minutes to see if Asami turns up. 

You walk around the desk to the wall behind it, where Asami has several large bookcases. There are shelves and shelves full of academia journals, math and physics book, most of which have indecipherable titles. Along the bottom rows are books you recognize, leather bound classics and a few well loved paperbacks. There’s even an entire row devoted to just Asami’s notebooks, each neatly dated along the spine with a few descriptive keywords. It doesn’t fill the entire shelf though, and propping up all the notebooks is a dusty trophy. It’s small, but you can clearly see that it’s a first place trophy for a science fair, and Asami’s name is embossed across the bottom.

Next to the trophy is a picture frame with a worn picture inside. It’s old, cracking along the edges where it had been folded, and the corners have been smoothed out. An edge looks partially discolored, as if it had sat over a flame for a brief moment. Asami is a child in the picture, standing happily next to Hiroshi and a woman that looks so much like her, it’s startling. You pick up the frame, studying her small smile and Hiroshi’s bright eyes. They’re so familiar to you.

“She’s not even here!” Bolin shouts from the hallway. You set the frame down, careful to place it exactly where it had been.

“I can see the light on, boy!” The door is shouldered open, and suddenly you’re staring at the man in the photograph, only a decade too old and much, much too angry.

There’s confusion on his face for only a moment before his eyes narrow and he stalks into the room. “You! Who are you?”

You step out from behind Asami’s desk, but you don’t get any closer. “I- I’m just a friend of Asami’s.” 

“And where is she?” Hiroshi asks impatiently.

You feel a frown tugging at the corners of your mouth. “I don’t know, I was just waiting for her.”

“Well what _do_ you kno- wait. Wait, you’re _Korra_ , aren’t you?” he spits, like your name is a curse.

You cross your arms defensively. “So what if I am?”

“ _You_. This is _your_ fault,” he growls. “My company is _ruined_ because of you! How can she be so _stupid_?”

You feel a flash of anger in your chest. “ _Your_ company?”

Hiroshi continues as if he hadn’t heard you. “She’s throwing away the only chance to save Future Industries for _you_? For you and your pet project?” He moves closer to you, but you stand your ground.

“That’s what bothers you, isn’t it? She isn’t you, she doesn’t make the same mistakes and it’s _her_ company now and there’s nothing you can do!” You know your temper is getting away from you, but you can’t help it. “She’s ten times- no, a _hundred_ times the CEO that you ever were, because she has ethics, and having ethics is the difference between a person and a tool. And you are _definitely_ a tool.”

His face is getting redder by the second, which gives you a measure of satisfaction that you aren’t proud of. “Who are you to tell me my business?” He jabs at your chest with a finger, but you’ve had enough. You grab his wrist and wrench it in a way that you know is uncomfortable.

“Who are you to treat her so callously, your own daughter? What she needs is a father, not another voice telling her that every decision she makes is the wrong one. She’s still a child, why can’t you remember that before you hurt her _again_?”

“Korra, _shut up_ ,” you hear from the doorway, and your head snaps around to see Asami, her voice icy and eyes hard steel, just like her father’s. “I can handle myself, thank you _very_ much.” You immediately release Hiroshi and take several steps back, startled. She ignores you though, her eyes never leaving her father. “And you, _get out_. I have spent my entire career cleaning up your messes, and I’m not going to do it anymore. I won’t have you undermining me and making back door deals just so that you can retain some _semblance_ of power, when in reality, you have _none_. I am _not_ a child.” Asami’s eyes flick to yours at the last word, and you feel all the blood drain from your face. Oh no, no, no.

Hiroshi rubs his wrist. “ _Fine_. If you want history to remember your legacy as the woman who brought down the most powerful company in the United Republic from the _inside_ , then I can’t seem to stop you.” He throws you a look that could wither flowers and shoulders past a bewildered Bolin on his way out. 

“Asami?” Bolin croaks timidly.

“In a minute, Bolin.” She sets her shoulders and moves closer to you. 

You put up both your hands in a placating gesture. “Asami, I didn’t mea-”

She lowers her voice, but it hasn’t lost its iciness. “I don’t need protecting and I _certainly_ don’t need anyone speaking for me. Don’t presume to know anything about me, my family, or my company.” You’re stunned into silence. “Just... go,” Asami whispers, defeated. She seems to crumple in on herself and you see the steel in her eyes melt.

You’re more than a little hurt, but the fire in your chest and your pride won’t let her see it, so you clench your jaw and leave the office without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can yell at me below, or on [tumblr](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/), if you like.
> 
> Edit 12/20: Hey whoa, look at that, osmrice beta'd this chapter, gave it a fresh coat of paint and a spit shine and now you can see yourself in it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami searches.

It had taken a little convincing and your very best business voice, but you had managed to talk Cabbage Corp down from the roof. You’d been right about your father, he had been playing both sides; not only had he tried to broker a deal behind your back between Future Industries and Cabbage Corp, but had proposed the idea in the first place. Somehow - you know how, actually, your father is very persuasive - he had convinced Cabbage Corp to hire him as a consultant, and from there it wasn’t hard to get them to do what he wanted.

Gan-Lan wasn’t easily sold on abandoning the pipeline. It would have transported an ocean of oil - from the other side of the mountains that border Republic City - straight into Cabbage Corp’s new oil refinery. Thankfully, they had not yet started construction on the refinery, otherwise you would have lost the fight before it had ever begun. 

You had had to make some promises to Gan-Lan, but he was surprisingly receptive, especially since he had very little reason to be. You suspect it had less to do with your argument about progress and thinking long-term and more to do with working with your father, a ‘disgraced relic.’ His words, not yours, but you didn’t argue with him. You suspected you’d hear from your father fairly quickly, but it’s been a few hours without a phone call, and you aren’t complaining.

Now, you’re meeting with your lead engineer, and he’s animatedly talking about the turbine. His opinion matters to you; he’s incredibly talented, and the fact that he’s excited about working on it gives you a measure of relief you didn’t know you needed. There had been a tinny voice in the back of your head that had wondered whether your confusing feelings for Korra had affected your judgement.

“Honestly, these curved blades were a very smart move. You said she’s not an engineer?” Shyo is bent over some heavily marked schematics with a Sharpie in hand.

You can’t stop the twitch in the corner of your mouth. “She’s an ecologist. She was just designing something that would harm fish less often. It just so happens to actually work, too.”

“With a little fine tuning, yeah it should work.” Shyo scratches his chin and smudges Sharpie across his stubble. He always does that, and you find it adorable every time. “I’ll have something for you tomorrow afternoon.”

You lean over to inspect the changes that Shyo has made. “That’s great, Bolin will be very glad to hear it. He’s having a tough time dealing with the fish delivery.”

“Where are they, by the way? I thought the fish would be delivered down to the R&D warehouse, but I haven’t seen ‘em.”

You grimace. “They were delivered to my office. Bolin put his name down and they brought them straight to him. Now he’s trying to find a tank big enough to deal with them all until testing.”

“Yikes. Good luck with that.” He hands you a clipboard and you sign all the necessary paperwork to give him the go ahead to start construction. 

“Thanks, Shyo. See you at testing?” you ask him as he accompanies you to the elevator, and you get on.

“Are you kidding? I’m dying to see Bolin handle a dozen live trout. I wouldn’t miss it.” You laugh as the doors close. 

Alone in the elevator, you check your phone and feel a spike in your pulse when you see a new message. It’s only Kuvira though, asking what time you’re planning to meet them in the afternoon. You’re typing a quick response, and just as the elevator doors open, a pungent wave of fish hits you. You wrinkle your nose and pull your sleeve down a little so you can use it to cover your mouth. The smell is horrendous, but you can’t help but laugh. Bolin must be losing his mind.

You don’t see Bolin immediately; you’re more focused on the buckets that are piled in your hallway. It isn’t until you hear raised voices coming from the direction of your office that you become alarmed. You spot Bolin, peering into your office from behind the door frame, his back to you. The angry voices are becoming clearer now, and your stomach drops when you realize that the two people arguing are Korra and the last person on the planet you want to see right now. 

You quicken your steps, but you hesitate when you hear your father’s voice drift out of your office. “Who are you to tell me my business- ah!” Your father’s cry of surprise spurs you to push past Bolin and open the door the rest of the way. Korra has grabbed your father’s wrist and he’s grimacing in pain. Korra’s eyes are pure fire, burning a hole into him.

“Who are you to treat her so callously, your own daughter? What she needs is a father, not another voice telling her that every decision she makes is the wrong one. She’s still a child, why can’t you remember that before you hurt her _again_?”

The floor falls away. Is that what she thinks? That you’re so helpless you need her to protect you from your big, bad father? That you’re a _child_ and incapable of defending yourself? Does she think so little of you? You feel cold fury crawl up the back of your neck, but instead of screaming the way you want to, you spit, “Korra, _shut up_. I can handle myself, thank you _very_ much.”

Korra’s head whirls to look at you, bewildered and the fire in her eyes is immediately extinguished. She drops your father’s wrist and steps sideways, away from him. Your father’s familiar, disappointed frown is planted on his face, but instead of shrinking you like it would normally, it only infuriates you further. “And you, _get out_. I have spent my entire career cleaning up your messes, and I’m not going to do it anymore.” His eyes widen briefly and you see a flash of hurt that bounces off the armor of anger you’ve created for yourself. “I won’t have you undermining me and making back door deals just so that you can retain some _semblance_ of power, when in reality, you have _none_.” You can’t help but look at Korra when you snarl, “I am _not_ a child,” and her face pales.

Your father’s face becomes a mask and whatever effect your words had on him is lost. “ _Fine_. If you want history to remember your legacy as the woman who brought down the most powerful company in the United Republic from the _inside_ , then I can’t seem to stop you.” He looks at Korra over his shoulder, but she meets his look blankly, as if he doesn’t matter in the least.

You hear Bolin walk further into the office. “Asami?”

Your anger has taken on momentum that you can’t shake. “In a minute, Bolin.” Korra’s face is open to you, like it always is, and it’s radiating sadness and concern and apologies that you can’t hear over the buzzing in your head. You steel yourself and walk closer to her.

Korra’s brow furrows. “Asami, I didn’t mea-”

You falter for a moment and you have to shut your eyes so you don’t have to look at those big, blue eyes, so full of worry. “I don’t need protecting and I _certainly_ don’t need anyone speaking for me. Don’t presume to know anything about me, my family, or my company.” You see a series of emotions flicker through her face, her mouth parted slightly. You wish she would just say something, but she doesn’t. Her eyes are just searching yours, and you feel your resolve begin to crack. “Just, go,” you manage to squeak out before you fall apart.

There’s a very brief moment where Korra looks so hurt and confused that you just want to hold her, but you can hardly hold yourself, so when her face becomes stone and she moves past you to leave, you let her.

“Korra,” Bolin starts, uselessly. She doesn’t even hesitate though, she’s already out of the room before he has a chance to add anything else. 

It isn’t until then that you notice that you’re shaking. That hole in your chest is widening, threatening to swallow you whole, and you’re struggling to keep it together. You stiffly walk behind your desk and collapse into your chair ungracefully. You feel exhausted.

You’re staring with unfocused eyes at your desk, your fingers in your hair, trying to keep your tears to yourself, You can see Bolin cautiously approach your desk in your peripheral vision. “Sooo… that didn’t go great.” He sets his teeth awkwardly. 

You can’t help but give a weak chuckle. “No, it really didn-” and that’s it. At the sound of your own, broken voice the dam breaks and the tears escape and there’s nothing you can do but let the sobs wrack your body. Bolin hustles around the desk and kneels at your feet, pulling you forward into his embrace. You sink against him and he holds you gently, but firmly. You’re embarrassed - you normally don’t do this, you generally keep it together, but you just need a moment to let it out. You tell yourself that you have two minutes. Two minutes of gripping Bolin’s shirt and hiccuping into his shoulder. Two minutes of allowing yourself to be the little girl who misses her father and right now is feeling his betrayal as freshly as she did two years ago. Two minutes of chiding yourself for letting your carefully constructed walls down even just an inch for Korra because you thought she was different. But then your two minutes are up, and you lean back off Bolin and wipe your tears with a sleeve.

Bolin stands up and runs out of the room, returning a few seconds later with a box of tissues that he places on your desk. You give him a grateful nod and a watery smile that is probably more of a grimace. He looks kind of awkward, like he doesn’t want to look you straight in the eye, but he definitely wants to say something. Finally, he does. “So, you know how I like, love you and junk and you’re my best friend and you are literally the best person in the world other than Opal and I will always be honest with you even if it’s not _exactly_ what you want to hear, because that’s what best friends do?”

He says it so quickly that it takes you a few seconds to parcel out his words in your mind. “Yes. Yes, I do know that,” you sniff.

“Okay. Okay, that’s good.” Bolin fidgets a little. “Since that’s the case I have to tell you… you might have just messed up. Just a bit! Just a little, not too bad…” he amends. “But yeah. A little bit of messing up there.”

You pause in dabbing your eyes and frown. “I know I might have been kind of harsh but he reall-”

“No, not with your dad. He’s a dick and he deserved all that and more. But you jumped in there without seeing the whole thing and didn’t give Korra a chance to explain…”

You raise an eyebrow. “She got physical with Hiroshi. What kind of person is she that she’d do that, even if he _is_ a dick?”

Bolin bobs his head from some to side, considering. “Yeeeah, that’s the thing. It wasn’t a great position for you to find her in, but she only grabbed him to stop him from touching her. He kept poking her in the chest.”

Oh.

“And I know she called you a child or whatever,” Bolin continues, “but that was after she talked about how amazing you are, and how you’re a _way_ better CEO than he ever was and well, he was the one who barged in and started yelling at her- how did he even know about her to begin with?”

You’re starting to feel that sinking feeling in your gut when you know you’re wrong. “He probably talked to Lau. He’s been trying to go behind my back to get Future Industries to work with Cabbage Corp on that pipeline deal but I threw a wrench into that earlier. Her name might have come up.”

“That explains a lot. I couldn’t believe he came in person. He was furious.”

You shrug. “He probably lost his consulting position at Cabbage Corp.” There’s a long moment of silence before you ask quietly, “She really said all those things?”

Bolin nods emphatically. “Yeah! And she said you had ethics, and something about the difference between a person and a tool and she called him a tool in this cool, double meaning way and it was kind of the best!” Bolin fist pumps excitedly. “That set him off though, it was like a mic drop.”

You crack a smile at that. “Not bad.”

He sits on the corner of your desk, facing you and swinging his legs out gently. You might as well name that spot after him, he does it so often. “So, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?” You look up at him.

“What do you mean, what do I mean? About Korra!”

“W-well, I, uh-”

Bolin carries on, not even looking at you. “Because _I_ really like her! And I think you like her too. No, I take that back, you _for sure_ like her! She’s cute and nice and,” he sighs. “What the hell, Asami?”

You throw your hands up in frustration before folding your arms over your desk and flopping your head down onto them. You groan into your arms, “Oh god, she’s been nothing but incredibly kind to me and I just blew up without even listening to her.”

Bolin’s voice is muffled a little by your arms against your ears. “Yep, you did. It happens. You might have overreacted a little, but it wasn’t exactly _unwarranted_. She’ll understand if you apologize.”

You sigh deeply. “Apologize. Right.” You pick up your head and look at Bolin pleadingly. “Stop making sense, it’s hurting my brain.”

“Mine too.” Bolin rubs his temples and gives you an exaggerated scowl before breaking into a grin. “Wanna go grab a drink? I can call Opal.”

You squint. “Yes, please. I like this new, sensible you.”

\--

Opal may have talked you into one too many shots last night, because your head feels heavy and your mouth is dry as you drive to Korra and Kuvira’s apartment. You’d slept well past noon and you hadn’t realized that they lived on the outskirts of town, so now you’re late, adding to your general irritation. You hate being late. You finally pull up to the building, which is far enough that it borders a forest, something you don’t see much of in Republic City.

Kuvira answers the door, and she’s in sweatpants, a gray tank top, and bare feet. “Hey, come on in.”

“Hey,” you echo her in greeting. The apartment is small, but it seems a lot bigger because of its open floor plan. To your left is a small living room area, with a couch and a love seat, and there are shoes under the coffee table and a couple of sweatshirts tossed carelessly over the couch. There’s a tiny television in the corner, but it’s almost like an afterthought. All of the furniture faces the long windows instead. In front of you is a small table with mismatched chairs, and Kuvira starts to clear it of unopened mail and a couple of mugs. To the right is small kitchen with a coffee machine and a couple of pans and skillets sticking out of the sink. You spot a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch on top of the fridge and it makes you smile.

Kuvira directs you to the newly cleared table. “Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Can I get you some coffee or something?”

“Yes, please,” you say a little more desperately than you mean to. She doesn’t mention it though; she simply pulls two mugs out of the cabinet and starts to fill them with coffee from the machine. You clear your throat nervously and try to sound casual. “Where’s Korra?”

Kuvira doesn’t answer right away; she finishes pouring coffee into the mugs and walks over with them. Yours is dark green and says, “Geology Rocks!” and there’s a rock with a face and limbs, enthusiastically playing a guitar. Cracks spider all over the cheaply printed image. Kuvira takes a slow sip of coffee before finally answering you. “Yeah, she’s not here.” Your heart sinks, and it probably shows because Kuvira shrugs and looks away. “She signed everything the lawyer told us to, so she figured we could take it from here.”

“Oh…” You trail off, unsure of what to say. “That’s fine, I guess. It’s just some formalities, anyway.”

Kuvira is silent while you pull out all of the paperwork you had brought, but finally she heaves a comically huge sigh. “We can talk, or whatever, about it. If you want.” She grimaces, like it’s the last thing she wants to do.

You drop your hands, still holding some of the paperwork, and look at Kuvira, who is meeting your eyes with some reluctance. “That’s- no, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” you reassure her.

Kuvira leans back against her chair with a creak. “Asami, no offense, but picture books are harder to read than you are.”

You can’t help but give an embarrassed huff. “I’m discovering that to be the case when it comes to Korra.”

Kuvira snorts. “Yeah, she has that effect on people.” She takes another long sip of coffee and you mirror her. The coffee is sharp and bitter, and you wish you had a little milk for it.

You set down your mug, but leave your fingers wrapped around it. “I sort of messed up.”

“Oh?” Kuvira’s eyebrows raise. “Korra didn’t mention that.”

You frown. “What _did_ she mention?”

Kuvira cracks a smile behind her mug. “Just that your father had shown up, and there had been a disagreement and that she was her usual self when it comes to that sort of thing.”

“What does that mean?”

Kuvira sets her mug back down and leans forward on her elbows. “Korra can be a little… impulsive, if you hadn’t noticed.”

You think back to your picnic in the park with the obscene amount of food and genuinely smile at the memory. “I’ve noticed.”

Kuvira’s eyes narrow slightly, as if studying you. It reminds you of Korra in the way that they’re dissimilar. Korra studies with a tilt of the chin and wide eyes. Kuvira hyper focuses instead and as much as you want to shirk away from her gaze, you’re no stranger to being stared down, so you meet her gaze with your own confident one. She quickly seems to come to a decision. “I met Korra freshman year, and we hated each other.”

You snigger. “I can’t imagine.”

Kuvira laughs. “Yeah, we were at odds constantly. But, by sophomore year we were best friends.” She shrugs. “She likes to talk about how similar we are, and we are, in some ways. But this,” she gestures vaguely, “wouldn’t work if she wasn’t everything I’m not, and vice versa.” She suddenly shoots you a very serious glare. “Don’t,” she points at you, “tell her I said this.”

You put a hand over your heart. “On my honor.”

Kuvira nods, her mouth a thin line. “I’m careful and collected where she’s impulsive and enthusiastic. My anger is cold and calm, where hers is explosive and burns out quickly. I play things pretty close to the chest, but she’s the most honest, open and empathetic person I know.” Kuvira frowns. “She gets hurt sometimes, being that way, but I wouldn’t want her to change.”

You swallow thickly. “I… need to talk to her.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Do you have any idea where she is?”

Kuvira considers this. “She didn’t say, but if I had to guess, I would say the gym. There’s one a couple of blocks down that she goes to a lot.”

“Right. Okay, thanks.” You fidget in your chair.

Kuvira smirks knowingly. “Leave the paperwork, I’ll go through it and sign everything.”

You can’t get out of the apartment fast enough. After a talk like that, it’s no wonder your head is filled with nothing but Korra, Korra, Korra. You don’t have a plan, per se, but you don’t want to give yourself time to second guess yourself or become nervous. You leave the apartment building, fully intending to march down to that gym and interrupt whatever it is Korra is doing and hope that you can salvage whatever it is that your relationship is. That tinny voice in your head is back, and it’s gained enough strength that it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that you’re starting to want more with Korra.

Before that can happen though, you have to make things right. And before _that_ can happen, you have to find her.

You set off in the direction that Kuvira had pointed out to you, but you don’t make it ten steps before you pause. It’s the forest that borders Korra’s neighborhood. And it’s stupid, you know, to consider traipsing through a strange forest when Kuvira, the person who knows Korra better than anyone, is probably right in thinking she’s at the gym. But you can’t shake the feeling, and you can’t shake the memory of Korra on the rooftop of Future Industries, her friendly, understanding smile, telling you where it is that she goes when needs perspective. 

The forest is surprisingly quiet, despite being so close to the city. It’s spring, so many of the plants are still young and sparse, but the canopy is beginning to thicken and you feel encompassed almost as soon as you step off the street and onto the dirt. 

You’re not particularly dressed for this, but you manage well enough. You’re grateful you’re wearing flats and slacks instead of your usual heels and skirt. You feel isolated and alone, but in a good way. The smell of the forest, dense and floral, and the sounds of birds and the crunching underfoot are your only companions. 

It takes about five minutes before you start to second guess your decision, which really, is longer than you expected. Even if Korra was in here, this forest is _much_ larger than you’d anticipated and she could be _anywhere_. But you keep trudging along, trusting your gut, because you’re Asami Sato, and you don’t give up so easily. Besides, you’re quite enjoying your time on your peaceful and calming hike, even if you sometimes trip on the occasional root. 

It’s another ten minutes before you’re really starting to consider giving up and hoping that Korra is still at the gym. It’s at that moment that you hear a violent rustling noise. You head in that direction, figuring that you’ll either find Korra, or get eaten by a bear.

Thankfully, it’s Korra. She’s easy to spot, her blue tank standing out against the tree she’s shimmying up. You can’t help but watch her for a moment. She braces herself and jumps up to the tree branch above her easily, hoisting herself up. Every few branches or so she stops and looks at the same place above her, in the canopy, as if judging how to best get there. She isn’t climbing for fun, she’s going somewhere.

You don’t want her to get too high before you say anything, so you step into the clearing under her and call, “Korra?”

She looks down, and though it’s a little hard to spot from this distance, the smile she gives you still makes your heart pick up a new beat. “Hey, what are you doing here?” She stands steadily on a sturdy branch, and wipes her palms on her pants.

“Oh, is this not the way to the bank?” you tease. “Shit, it must be closed by now.”

She huffs a gentle laugh. “Alright, so how’d you know I was here?”

You shrug. “I didn’t. I guessed.”

She tilts her head and observes you in that quiet way of hers - you like it much more than Kuvira’s intimidating stare - before she happily asks, “Wanna come up?”

You haven’t climbed a tree since you were a kid - in fact, it was only once and your dad was furious - but you can’t imagine it to be _that_ hard. “Okay.” You look at all the branches leading up and map a pathway in your head to Korra.

You pull yourself up onto the nearest branch, which scrapes your palms and makes them itch. The first one was the hardest though, and after that you decide not to care about how you look or what happens to your clothes. It starts to become fun, actually. Sometimes you have to jump on faith that the tree will catch you, and it does every time. Occasionally Korra points out a branch that isn’t as sturdy as it looks, but for the most part she keeps quiet and watches you climb up to her. 

You’re a branch below her when she reaches down to pull you up. You’re breathing heavily, but you’re pleased with yourself and Korra looks impressed, but not surprised. “Hi,” she greets quietly. 

“Hi,” you puff. “Come here often?”

Korra grins crookedly, and your heart melts a little. “Only when I want to show a pretty girl a good time.”

You laugh at that, but you can feel the blush creeping up the back of your neck. You crane your head up to distract yourself and ask, “Where are we headed?” She slides in next to you to position her head close to yours and points with her arm. There’s a large, black nest nestled in a tree. “A bee nest?”

“Not quite. Ants.” Korra jumps up to the next branch easily.

“Uh,” you shift your gaze back to her. “How did those other pretty girls react when you made them climb two stories up to look at a giant ant nest?”

You hear her laugh, but she’s facing away from you, already pulling herself up level with the nest. “Come on, this is cool, I promise.” 

You follow her quickly, scrambling up after her. You’re getting better at this tree climbing thing. When you reach her, she’s a few meters away, keeping her distance from the nest. When you settle in behind her, she points at the nest. “See that giant hole in the nest?”

There’s a hole caved into the nest about the size of a softball. “Yeah? It looks like it was attacked or something.”

“You’re not far off, but that’s the amazing part.” She turns back to look at you. “It was made by a woodpecker. A woodpecker that eats those ants. And those ants,” she points at a couple of disturbingly large, black ants scurrying around some of the branches, “they love to eat bird eggs.”

“So, they hate each other.”

“Oh, most definitely.” Korra grins hugely. “Except for in the spring.”

“What,” you raise a skeptical eyebrow, “they have a truce in the spring?”

Korra’s eyes sparkle. “Yes! They do! In the spring, the woodpecker comes and breaks a hole into their nest.”

You snort. “That doesn’t sound very truce-like.”

“No, it doesn’t. Breaking into the nest like that even displaces and destroys some of the ant eggs. You would think that the ants would go berserk, but they don’t. They let the woodpecker keep its eggs in there, and after they hatch the chicks hang out in there with the ants until they can fly.

You look back at the nest, where there are hundreds of ants swarming all over it. “Why?”

“We don’t really know!” Korra is practically frothing at the mouth at these ants. “I mean, there are theories, like the ants get to feed off of the leftovers of what the chicks don’t eat. But no one _really_ knows. Crazy, isn’t it?” She walks along the branch and leans forward, arm braced on the branch above her. “I saw this nest from below, so I thought I’d take a look. They don’t live in Zaofu, so I’ve never had a chance to study them before.”

She points at the hole, but doesn’t get too close to the swarming ants. You move towards her on the branch and follow the path of her arm with your eyes. “See? You can see the eggs. No woodpeckers right now though, otherwise they’d probably object to us being so close.”

She leans forward a bit too much, and her foot slips a little. You put out a fast arm to steady her. She wraps her hand around your arm and chuckles nervously. “Thanks.”

Korra drops to sit comfortably on the branch and just observes the nest for a few minutes. You feel strangely intrusive when you kneel to join her, but she keeps one hand close to yours and sometimes she reaches out and touches you gently before pointing something else out. You ask a few questions, but mostly keep quiet and watch her chatter excitedly. She looks so young and happy, and you can’t help but get swept up in it, just like on the rooftop. Except this time, you’re in her space, not yours. It feels intimate, and she seems perfectly comfortable with you here.

“Ants are incredibly good at mutualism,” she continues. “Mostly they offer protection to the plants they live in or animals they rely on. Like, there are these caterpillars back in Zaofu that secrete this sticky, sweet fluid that the ants around there eat and use to build their nests. So, in return, they protect the caterpillar as if it were an ant.” She gently takes your hands and turns it, palm up. She uses her fingers to illustrate her point, splaying her fingers and moving them around your palm. “They swarm and overpower much, much larger predators. It’s awesome.”

You smirk. “Are you sure you’re not an entomologist?”

“Nah, insects are amazing, but I’m too big picture to really focus on any one type of animal. Ants are some of the best examples of mutual dependence, though.” She gives you a small, sheepish smile. “Sorry, I get… carried away.”

Her hand is still around yours, so you tighten your grip a little and squeeze her hand gently. “Don’t apologize for being genuinely enthusiastic about something. Besides, you’re right, it _is_ awesome. I’m starting to understand what you mean when you say that feeling like you’re a part of something gives you perspective.”

Her smile turns grateful before her face falls a little and becomes crestfallen. “Listen, Asami-”

You know where she’s going, so you cut her off before she can get there. “I’m sorry, Korra. I’m so sorry.”

“You- what?” Korra looks confused. 

“I jumped down your throat and you didn’t deserve it. I didn’t have all the facts and I didn’t let you explain.”

She shakes her head vigorously, and it makes her hair sway around her face. “No, no, I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that. It’s something I’m working on…” She frowns. “And I didn’t mean to imply that I thought you couldn’t handle yourself, or that you were a child and out of your element. Nothing could be further from the truth. I think what you’ve done is remarkable, _especially_ when you’re as young as you are.”

“I know that now. I was hurt that my dad had gone through such lengths to control the company from under me, and I was tired of being underestimated. I took that out on you, and I’m sorry.”

It’s then that you notice that your hand is still holding Korra’s, and she shifts them to lace your fingers together instead. “We’re good.” 

“We’re good,” you agree. You’re suddenly hit with the desire to kiss her. Not that you hadn’t _thought_ about it before, but this is the first time that you actually _really_ want to.

Except that there’s a loud screech and Korra’s eyes widen; she pushes you off your perch and down onto the branch below you before joining you and placing an arm on your back. You look up and catch the blur of a bird swooping down where you had just been. You’re pretty sure you swear loudly.

Korra scrambles down and pulls you with her. “If we leave the area she’ll go away, she’s just protecting the eggs!” She’s climbing down recklessly, but you trust her, and she always seems to know when the bird is coming back for another dangerous swoop. When you’re close enough, she ducks under another attack and you jump down, landing in a roll. She mirrors you and when she springs up you unthinkingly grab her hand and drag her behind you as you both run pell-mell through the forest. She’s slightly behind you, and you hear her let out an uproarious laugh that prompts your own chuckle to bubble out of you; soon you’re both laughing so hard you’re crying, still running through the darkening forest.

You don’t slow down until you’re at the edge of the forest. Korra wipes her eyes and takes greedy gulps of air. “I’m so sorry, that was dumb of me.” Her huge smile betrays her.

“Yeah, right, you’re not the least bit sorry.” You give her shoulder a weak bump. “You loved every second of that.”

She laughs. “Well, as long as the pretty girl had a good time.”

“She did.” You roll your eyes. “Except for that bit at the end there where she was fleeing for her life.”

“You kid,” Korra says seriously, “but I swear that was the _biggest_ woodpecker I’ve everseen! They would have found nothing of our bodies.”

You walk out of the forest, and the light from the newly lit streetlamps reveals the condition of your clothes. “I… should probably head home and get out of these…” You make a face. “I was not dressed appropriately for a bird attack.”

You think you catch a glimpse of something like disappointment flash across Korra’s face, but it’s gone in an instant and she furrows her brow. “Will I see you tomorrow?” 

Her timid tone makes your smile a little wider than you mean it to be. “Yeah, come by for the turbine test tomorrow?”

Korra nods as you reach your car and then looks pointedly down and you follow her gaze, startled to find that your hands are still interlocked. You can feel how sweaty you both are. She lets go with a smile and opens your door for you. “Great, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It isn’t until you’re around the corner, heading home, that you consider the fact that you had just held Korra’s hand for ten minutes while running through a forest and hadn’t noticed. Now, however, with only the remnants of Korra’s touch on your fingers, you feel as if something is missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a picture of the ant nest on [Tumblr](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/135579220785/more-references-for-company-for-those-interested).
> 
> I'm incredibly grateful to osmrice, who not only beta'd this chapter (and I was sick when writing it, so it was quite a task) but they also went back and smashed up chapters 1-6 with their grammar hammer. And they only judged me a little bit, so that was generous of them. 
> 
> Thank you so much for the support and comments, I read every one and they warm my cold, dead heart. Chapter eight will be out soon after whatever holiday is happening this week.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra builds her dreams and breaks furniture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is ridiculous and I would apologize if I was in any way sorry.

Well, _that’s_ not something you see every day. You and Kuvira have strolled into Future Industries’ R &D warehouse to find Bolin, who appears to be face down in an enormous inflatable pool. His feet are dangling over the edge, flailing around desperately. No one in the factory is paying him any mind at all, as if this were a normal, everyday occurrence. After a moment he pulls himself out of the water with a huge gasp of air, dragging a large trout out with him. He hugs the fish to his chest and the fish wriggles desperately, slapping Bolin across the face repeatedly with its tail fin. 

“Oh, my god,” Kuvira breathes next to you. “What is he _doing_?”

Several people milling around the warehouse have stopped to watch as Bolin waddles with the frantic trout towards a long, transparent tank set up against the wall. As he passes you can hear his high-pitched whine, punctuated by sloppy, wet slaps. When he reaches the tank he heaves the fish over the high edge and drops it unceremoniously into the water, sending up a splash of water over his already soaked shirt. There’s a smattering of broken applause as Bolin determinedly stalks back to the inflatable pool.

“There _has_ to be a better way,” Kuvira mutters.

“Oh, there is, it just wouldn’t be as entertaining,” says a voice from behind you. You turn to find a short, stocky man, his friendly smile shadowed by stubble and a black smudge across his chin. “You must be Korra. And… Kuvira, right? I’m Shyo, the lead engineer.”

You both shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Shyo.”

“Likewise. I’ve been having fun with your designs, and I think we’re just about there. We’re installing the turbine now.” You’re walking alongside Shyo down the length of the tank. On the end closest to you is a larger pool of water, where Bolin is tossing in another trout to join the other fish already dazedly swimming around. The larger pool feeds into a narrower channel that gradually slopes down, and at the bottom of the slope you can see several people gathered around a metal chamber. 

You can hear Kuvira asking Shyo some questions about how they’re simulating the river flow, but his answer is lost on you because it’s at that moment that you recognize Asami. She’s straddling the tank with her hands inside the chamber. Her hair is pulled back in a messy bun and streaks of grease pattern her arms. It’s the hottest you think you’ve ever seen her, and that’s saying a hell of a lot. 

As if she can feel your gaze, she glances up and when she spots you her face breaks out in the smile you’ve only ever seen her give to you. She pulls a darkly stained hand out of the chamber and starts to wave, but you hear a loud, metallic creak and the chamber shifts a little before she drops her hand back in and wrenches something back into place. Everyone around her breathes a long sigh of relief, and Asami looks back up at you, her smile sheepish.

Asami jumps down off the tank and several other people crowd against the machine, taking her place. She pulls a threadbare rag from her back pocket of her skinny jeans and wipes her hands. “Hey!” she greets you excitedly. “Ready?”

You hear a splash and Bolin swearing loudly behind you. “When you are,” you agree.

Asami leads you down to the chamber, leans over the edge of the tank and points inside. “There it is.” 

Suddenly this test gets very, _very_ real to you. There’s your turbine, a little different from how you’d imagined it, but your sketches are there, right underneath the polished metal and welded edges. The familiar weight of Kuvira’s hand on your shoulder as she leans forward is comforting, especially when she gives you a gentle squeeze. When you glance at her there’s a faint smile on her lips. You turn to Asami and find her watching you. Her brow is wrinkled adorably and you can tell she’s gauging your reaction. You’re so grateful and overwhelmed for a moment that you have to drop your gaze when you smile; you’re afraid you’ll come spilling out through your ribs if you look at her for a moment longer.

Shyo interrupts, much to your relief. “We’re ready to go. Asami?” She nods, still looking at you.

Asami and Shyo walk off to set things up while you and Kuvira try to stay out of the way as much as possible. Kuvira is standing stoically, her feet slightly apart and her hands behind her back. It’s a familiar pose. “You’re nervous?” you ask. 

“Incredibly,” she confirms. “Aren’t you?”

You shrug. “Honestly? Not really. Maybe in the sense that we’ve worked for _years_ for this moment, but I’m not afraid it won’t work.” You tug on her arm a little and force her to meet your eye. “We did everything we could, and I don’t know about you, but I think we’re pretty awesome. And Asami?” You scan the room for Asami and find her speaking seriously to a woman in a hardhat. “She’s Asami. If she thinks it’ll work, then it’ll work.”

When you turn back to Kuvira, she has a soft smile and her shoulders have released some of their tension. “You have a point.”

You feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. It’s a call from an unknown number, and you answer hesitantly. “Hello?”

“Hey kid! Where are you?” says a voice that is much too loud for a phone call.

“Varrick?” you ask. “I’m at Future Industries, we’re about to test the turbine prototype.”

“Great! I’ll be there in… Zhu-Li? How long until we’re over Future Industries?” There’s a pause before he continues, “Twenty minutes!”

“What do you mean by over…? Hello? Varrick?” The line has gone dead, so you just shrug and tuck your phone back into your pocket.

Kuvira raises an eyebrow. “What’s that about?”

“Varrick’s on his way,” you answer simply.

Everyone is stepping away from the tank, and a woman in a hard hat and vest turns on the pump that cycles the water from the end of the tank back to the beginning. Asami takes a clipboard from Shyo and marches up to the chamber to take notes. The larger tank is opened, sending a wave of water barrelling down the sloped path. Several fish are dragged down with the release of the water. You can’t help but detach yourself from the crowd and crouch down next to the tank near the entrance of the chamber. When you put your hand on the glass you can feel the vibration of the machine against the tank and the flowing water. The fish are fighting against the current, mouths gaping. It isn’t long, however, before one is dragged further and into the chamber. You press your cheek against the glass, trying to see inside, but there’s only darkness.

Almost as soon as you join Asami on the other side of the chamber, the trout is propelled out and when it doesn’t move right away your breath catches. It shakes itself then, and several more trout come firing out of the chamber, similarly unharmed, if a bit disorientated. You let out the long breath you didn’t know you were holding.

You face Asami, a massive grin plastered all over your face, but she isn’t looking at you. She’s scribbling frantically on her clipboard, her eyes narrowed in concentration and a determined set to her mouth. She motions with her hand held high, and the pump shuts off, leaving silence hanging in the air. Shyo jogs over and without looking at him, Asami gets right to work. “We’re turning too quickly. We need a way to add resistance to the turbine spin to simulate the generator rotor being turned. The real deal will have no choice but to spin much more slo-”

The rest of what Asami tells Shyo is lost to you when Kuvira grabs you from behind, picking you up and swinging you like a ragdoll. “You did it!” she tells you. 

She sets you back down, and you shake your head, still smiling from ear to ear. “She did it.” You motion with a thumb back at Asami, who is now directing several other people with an easy confidence that, if you didn’t know any better, you would say she was born with.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Korra. This is you. This is all _you._ ” Kuvira follows your eyes with her head so you can’t escape her gaze. “Now it’s my turn.”

You rub the back of your neck. “Yeah, well… don’t drop the ball now that everything is riding on you,” you tease.

Kuvira is about to retort when Asami joins you, looking serious. “That was a good first test. We’ll make some changes and run a few more-”

She’s interrupted by the violent squealing of tires and several loud car horn blasts. There’s some indecipherable yelling that sounds as if it’s coming from outside the warehouse. You and Kuvira share a look, but Asami is already heading out of the warehouse bay door and you follow her immediately. Asami halts at the door though, her mouth gaping, and when you join her and look outside, your jaw unhinges as well.

Outside there are several cars that have spun sideways in the street and one has literally driven up onto the sidewalk. Drivers have left their cars and are shouting frantically. In the middle of the commotion is a garishly painted helicopter with ‘Varrick Global Industries’ written in huge letters across the side of it. It’s hovering mid-air in the middle of the street and through the window you can see Varrick, his hands on the controls and his tongue stuck out in concentration.

When Varrick swerves the helicopter dangerously close to the warehouse, you and everyone around you take a large, collective step back. It takes a few more frightening attempts before Varrick finally manages to land in front of a parking meter on the street. The engine is shut off and the helicopter blades begin to slow. He throws open the door and bounds out excitedly, yelling over the noise of the winding down engine, “Zhu-Li! Feed the meter!”

Zhu-Li climbs out after him and gets a small change purse out, pulling out one coin at a time and inserting it calmly into the machine. Another man shakily exits out of the back of the helicopter, his hair tousled and his blocky glasses askew. 

Varrick rips his comically large goggles off his face and greets you, “Kid! Good to see ya!” He claps a hand on your back, but you hardly react; you’re still looking at the helicopter, which is so brightly painted it hurts your eyes.

Varrick has moved on, now greeting Kuvira - who seems similarly dazed by his arrival - then Asami, who is pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. “You know I have a helicopter pad on the roof, right?” she mutters.

“So! How’d the test go?” Varrick asks casually, ignoring Asami and flopping into a chair and propping his feet up on a workbench.

Asami calmly walks over and swipes his feet off the workbench. “Very well, actually. We’re just about to set up the next one and then break for lunch.” She glances over at the tank, where Bolin is grumbling angrily while several other workers use large nets to transport the fish back into the large tank. 

“Great, great, glad to hear it, especially since I already bought zone twenty-four.”

The silence is deafening before Kuvira comes to her senses first. “ _What_? How? I thought you were bidding against Cabbage Corp?”

“We didn’t even have a working prototype until five minutes ago!” Asami interrupts.

Varrick waves them off. “I have total faith in you guys, total faith! I knew you’d do it, and so you did! So let’s talk construction.”

“Kuvira’s been working on the designs for the generator,” you say.

“Excellent! Junior?” Varrick stands and grabs the hand of the man with the blocky glasses. He’s tall, and the sides of his head are shaved, his hair slicked back. He’s managed to tame his hair from his harrowing entrance, and smoothed out his goatee. Varrick all but drags him over to Kuvira, where he grabs Kuvira’s hand and forces the two of them to shake. “Kuvira, meet Junior. Junior, Kuvira. You’re going to be working together!” 

“We are?” they both say simultaneously. Their narrowed eyes meet and they release each other immediately. 

Varrick wraps an arm around Junior’s back. “Yes! Junior here’s my top engineer!”

“As I’ve told you, my name is Baatar. You can drop the ‘Junior,’” he says coldly. 

“Baatar?” Shyo steps forward, his eyes wide in recognition.

Baatar looks at him and a smile crinkles the corners of his eyes. “Shyo!” They meet each other in a friendly handshake and Shyo puts a hand on his bicep, which is sort of awkward because of the height difference. “Good to see you! You work at Future Industries?”

“Sure do! Working for Varrick, huh?” Shyo raises a thick eyebrow.

“Unfortunately…” Baatar mutters.

Asami asks, “You guys know each other?”

“Yep!” Shyo confirms. “We went to school together. Baatar’s great, I can vouch for him.”

“ _Wonderful_! This is going swimmingly already. Kuvira, Junior, I would _love_ to stay and talk shop and catch up, but my meter’s almost up and I gotta dash. Call me later!” He dramatically snaps his goggles back over his face and marches back out of the bay doors. Zhu-Li gives the group a short bow before hustling out after him.

Everyone stands in silence as Varrick climbs back into his helicopter and turns on the engine. There’s a collective gasp when Varrick banks sharply as soon as he takes off, but he straightens out and manages to fly out of sight. 

When you turn back around to the group, Baatar, Kuvira and Shyo have already walked away. Baatar is standing rigidly with his arms crossed, Kuvira is gesturing angrily, and Shyo is looking distinctly uncomfortable. 

Asami appears at your elbow. “That went well,” she observes. 

You snort. “Yeah, I want no part of that,” you say while nodding towards the argument. You turn to face Asami. “So, that’s crazy. How do you think Varrick got the land out from under Cabbage Corp?”

Asami grimaces. “Ah, yeah, about that. I may have had something to do with it.”

“What? How?”

“I, uh, called Gan-Lan and convinced him to back a different project instead.”

You tilt your head. “What project?” 

Asami looks a little guilty for a moment before answering, “The factory.”

You gape at her. “You’re letting them in on the factory project?”

She bobs her head from side to side. “Yes and no. I convinced them that backing the factory was going to be more profitable than Hiroshi’s pipeline. So, they’re going to invest. Among other things.”

You snap your jaw shut. “Wait, wait, Hiroshi’s pipeline?”

Asami sighs. “Yeah. Turns out he was pulling all the strings over at Cabbage Corp. He had been hired as a consultant and he thought he could still control what Future Industries did out from under me.”

You still for a long moment while you observe Asami. Her shoulders are slumped and she looks more tired than you’ve ever seen her. The pieces suddenly fit so clearly, and you feel like _such_ an idiot.

“That’s why he was angry at me. Zone twenty-four went to my project, not his…” you breathe.

Asami nods once and gives you a sad smile. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

You ignore the misplaced apology. “Asami I... “ You hesitate because nothing you could say seems like enough at this moment. Finally, you settle on, “Are you okay?”

She huffs. “Honestly? Not really. I can’t seem to escape his legacy, his expectations, or his ghost. He haunts me and controls me without even being here. I don’t know how to break free of him.” 

You reach out and touch the back of Asami’s hand lightly. She shifts a little to meet you and laces your fingers together. She raises her gaze to yours and you try to give her a comforting smile, but you don’t know what you can offer her. You don’t know what you could possibly do to take the weight of her father off her back. 

But… maybe you can help her face the memory of him, at least within Future Industries.

You give her fingers a light squeeze. “Will you come with me?”

She smiles and teases, “To the roof again?”

You shake your head. “No. To the top floor.” Her smile falls instantly, but you wrap your other hand around hers to keep her from pulling away. “Hear me out. Keeping his stuff up there like that, literally looming over you, can’t be healthy. Maybe going up there and facing it, clearing his stuff out, would help get rid of a part of him.”

She eyes you warily, but after a few seconds she releases a hard breath and nods reluctantly.

Even in the dim light, you can tell that the top floor is a mirror image of Asami’s. Where Asami’s office is on the right from the elevators, Hiroshi’s office is to the left. His floor is also a lot less modern than the floor below it. While Asami’s floor has an open floor plan, bright and airy with the desks exposed and connected, these desks are all separated by off-white, thin cubicle walls. It has all the looks of an office abandoned after an apocalyptic event. You don’t see any computers, but there are a few lone monitors dotting the desks and scattered bits of office supplies. 

You languidly explore the office, running your fingers over the tops of cubicle walls and feeling the layer of dust that’s collected. Asami is watching you from the elevators, clearly uncomfortable. You pass the mirror image of Bolin’s desk on the way to Hiroshi’s office. There are frosted glass panels that run across the walls of the office, and you can see the blurry shapes of disused furniture inside. The door is ajar, so you gently push it open with a finger. You look back at Asami, who is still watching with a frown across her lips. You gesture with a finger for her to join you and her eyes widen and even in the darkness you can see the dusting of pink on her cheeks.

Hiroshi’s office is frozen in time. There are desk drawers left open, and a few books lay open on the floor. Asami looks around with wide eyes, as if she’s never been here before. Or perhaps it’s just the skeleton of a memory, and it’s haunting her.

There’s an upturned desk chair on the floor, and you pick it up and position it in its place behind the desk. You sit down and scoot up to it while Asami moves around the desk to join you. Several of the drawers have been thrown open, and when Asami sees the bottom one open, she stops. You watch her bend down and slowly remove a face down picture frame from the drawer. When she turns it over, you can’t quite see what the picture is of, but you can see how young and vulnerable her face is as she looks at it. 

You don’t know exactly what to do, but she saves you from the painful silence by explaining, “It’s us at my school science fair.” She turns it slightly towards you and you crane your neck to see a tiny Asami, proudly holding the trophy you had seen before in her office. Her father is behind her, hand on her shoulder as he beams proudly. 

Asami sighs and sets her mouth in a grim smile. “He tried, after Mom died. But eventually he couldn’t stop it from consuming him.” She stands and places the picture gently on the desk, face down again. She turns to the shelf behind Hiroshi’s desk and laughs humorlessly when she sees another picture, this one of Hiroshi and Raiko shaking hands. “This is the one he leaves out…” she observes. 

You turn away, afraid that bringing her to this graveyard had been a mistake. You swallow thickly and focus on what’s on the desk. There’s a pad of paper, which is mostly used, a cheap office phone and a large, glass paperweight that looks like a globe. You pick it up curiously, and you hear Asami huff as she comes out from behind you to the side of the desk.

“He loved that thing. He said that it reminded him,” she deepens her voice in a mocking tone, “of Future Industries’ _destiny_. To be the largest, most powerful entity in the _world_.” She snorts with derision. “I’ve always hated that thing.” 

An idea blooms in your mind and you push the globe to the corner of the desk towards her.“So break it.”

“What?” Asami looks genuinely confused.

“You hate it, it represents something you don’t believe in, so break it.”

She looks at the globe, seeming to consider your suggestion. After a moment she brings her hand to the globe and pushes it off the desk. It lands with a heavy thump that you can feel in your feet, but doesn’t break.

You can’t help but snicker. “You’re going to have to do better than that. You have to _mean it_.” You bare your teeth dramatically and you see Asami’s mouth lift a little. She bends down, picking up the globe. She rolls it in her hand a little, testing its weight with short tosses. Finally she raises her hand high in the air and brings it down with force, smashing the globe against the ground. Glass chunks scatter across the ground, and the floor vibrates from the force.

Asami’s face is hidden by her hair as she looks down at the remnants of the paperweight. You notice her shoulders shaking and you stand, worried that you’ve upset her. But then she throws her head back and roars with laughter, the mirth traveling through her body. You chuckle lightly but you’re still faintly worried until she looks at you and wipes away an amused tear. “That felt good.”

You smile for real then and ask, “What’s next?” You look around the desk.

Asami doesn’t answer right away, but when she does she says quietly, “The phone. I used to hate the phone when I was a kid; he was always on it. He was never with me.”

Your heart clenches painfully but you don’t let it stop you. You pick up the phone and hastily place it on the ground. You bring your foot down sharply on the phone, cracking the face plate and sending the receiver flying. You grab the cord and tear it, taking the end with the receiver and twirling it above your head. You let go, and it hits the wall with a satisfying thunk. Asami is looking at you incredulously, but she’s smiling, so you take that as permission to continue. “What’s next?” you ask. 

“Um...” Asami moves around the desk as she looks through some of the open drawers. “Oh! This.” She picks up an ornate looking wooden box and sets it on the desk. Inside is a series of fountain pens and a plastic ink bottle. You’re struck by how mundane they are, despite the beautiful box. “He liked to use fountain pens. Something about the way they write- well, whatever, it was all bullshit anyway. He probably thought it made him more sophisticated or something.” She picks up one of the pens with both hands and violently wrenches it, cracking the pen in half. It doesn’t break cleanly, but it’s bent at a severe angle and Asami tosses the pen down onto the desk. “He loved being purposefully pretentious,” she adds.

When she looks back at you, she’s not quite as sad as she was before. She’s amused, which seems like a good sign. Asami is sitting in her father’s chair now, spinning in it idly. She motions with her head, gesturing to the sitting area behind you. “I would complain about those chairs whenever we had a meeting in here. He said he bought those old, wooden chairs to make the people he was negotiating with uncomfortable.” You grin widely and bound over to Hiroshi’s sitting area, which is very similar to Asami’s, except for the rigid furniture. 

You clamber onto one of the chairs and plant one foot on top of the head of the chair and rock forward, swinging your arms wildly to try and balance on the two back legs. It creaks loudly before you start to see the back separate from the nails and the whole thing cracks. You manage to keep your balance and land on top of the broken back, which results in the chair splintering further. The chair was much more fragile than you’d expected.

“Whoops,” you laugh. Asami is laughing behind her hand, her eyes closed. When she opens them she stands again, grabbing Hiroshi’s picture of Raiko off the shelf and tossing it behind her back without a second thought. It lands with a tinkle of glass breaking. She picks up some of the other models and trinkets off the shelf and throws them carelessly around the room. Some hit the wall, some hit the ceiling, she’s not paying any attention to where they fall.

“Here,” you tell her as you bend down to wrench a broken chair leg out from under you. It comes off the seat easily and you swing it widely like a bat. “Gimme your best shot!” 

She laughs and grabs the nearest item without thinking, throwing it to you in an underhand arc. Your chair leg connects and it turns out that she threw the plastic ink bottle, because when you hit and crack the plastic, ink sprays out of the rifts and splatters all over your face and arms. You instinctively screw your eyes shut and sputter. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Asami is still standing by the desk, her shoulders tensed and a wince on her face. She looks so concerned that you can’t help but let loose a bark of laughter.

“You are so, _so_ dead!” you cry. You spin around to the coffee table and pick up a flimsy, plastic coaster that you throw towards her. She avoids it easily with a joyous laugh and starts to run across the room towards the door. You pick up another coaster and carelessly fling it, letting it hit the door as her hair whips out of sight. 

You can see her shadow through the frosted glass and you run after her. As soon as you leave the office though, a mesh pencil holder clatters against the wall next to you, and you see Asami duck behind a cubicle. You sprint towards her, picking up a calculator from one of the desks on the way. You jump easily on top of the cubicle desk and playfully roar as you brandish your calculator. 

But she’s not there. Of course she’s not there. Oh- oh _shit_. 

You feel the desk shift under you, and you have to jump forward over the cubicle wall to not come crashing down with the cheap particle board. “Sh-shit!” you shout. You whirl around and Asami is there, her eyes wide like she hadn’t expected the result of her actions to be quite so dramatic. But you simply grin and toss the calculator towards her, and she laughs as she disappears behind a cubicle. You immediately crouch as well, trying to play her stealthy game. There’s no forgetting now that Asami isn’t as fragile as you and everyone else treats her. She can climb trees and collapse desks and design beautiful feats of engineering. You’re determined not to make the mistake of underestimating her again.

You’re crawling past another cubicle when you hear something move on the other side of the wall. You shift into a half crouch and push against the wall, hard. The wall bows and gives easily, and you hear Asami’s startled squeak as you collapse forward with the wall, rolling into the aisle through a plume of dust. You catch a glimpse of her turning a corner, but by the time you pick yourself up and follow her, she’s disappeared again. You curse thoughtlessly before clapping your hand over your mouth and rolling away moments before another cubicle wall comes down into the aisle. God _damn_ this woman.

You’re snaking your way through the aisles, but it’s quiet. Too quiet. You creep into a cubicle and gently detach a lonely desk lamp from its socket. You lightly curl the cord around the neck of the lamp and remove the light bulb before peering around the corner. When you’re sure she’s not there, you recklessly toss it down the aisle and it clatters loudly as it skips across the floor. You wait with baited breath until another cubicle wall falls down on top of the broken lamp. You fire out of the cubicle and turn the first corner, trying to cut her off. You spot her, but she almost immediately sees you too and skips away in the opposite direction. You’re hot on her heels, but she’s fast and she easily rounds the sharp corners that nick your hips when you follow. 

You’re almost on top of her when she kicks a foot out against a cubicle, hitting a desk leg. A load bearing desk leg, apparently, because the entire thing buckles and the top of the desk slides off its hinges and right into your path. You manage to avoid it, but it’s awkward and puts you off balance. You hit the cubicle wall and you feel the whole thing crumple under your weight. You twist and manage to land on your shoulder instead of your face, but you roll a little and take out Asami’s legs as she runs past. She lands on top of you comically, and you both skid to a stop, panting heavily. 

Asami ends up laughing first, but only just. Her head is resting on the back of your shoulder; you can feel her breath against your neck and it makes you shiver. You try to lift yourself a little at the same time that she tries to roll off you, and it makes her face plant into the ground next to you. She snorts loudly into the carpet and you can only sag back against the floor and guffaw into your arm.

She pries herself away from you and detaches her legs from yours. You think her hands linger a little longer on your back than they probably need to, but it could just be your imagination. When you feel her weight leave your back you lift yourself with your arms to find Asami sitting against one of the few intact cubicle walls, laughing into her hands. You scoot to join her, leaning your head against the wall and letting your laughs drift to the ceiling.

The laughter refreshes itself a few times, but when it finally settles Asami turns to you. “Thanks.”

You tilt your head. “For what?”

She shrugs. “Just... thanks.”

“Anytime, I guess,” you grin. 

You feel her slump against your shoulder and wrap a hand around your bare, ink spotted forearm. Her touch is cool against your slightly overheated skin. You observe her from the corner of your eye. You don’t think you’ve seen anyone more beautiful than Asami is at this moment, in a greasy tank top and stray wisps of hair sticking to her sweaty face. Her breaths are calm, steady now, but you can feel her heartbeat where your skin meets hers and it’s still a bit fast. You place your other hand on top of hers. “Maybe it’s time to do something with this floor,” you tell her.

She hums. “I think you might be right.”

You pick up a broken piece of particle board. “Maybe you can turn it into a laser tag arena. You could even use all this scrap to build obstacles.”

Asami takes the fractured piece from you. “Who do you take me for, Korra? Someone who builds _sub-par_ laser tag arenas out of the cheapest material money can buy? I am an _engineer_. I build _awesome_ laser tag arenas,” she exclaims, affronted.

You laugh. “Excuuuse me. My apologies, Queen Laser Tag.”

“You’re excused,” Asami says offhandedly as she makes a show of inspecting her nails.

You poke her lightly in the side and she squirms. “I could help you run the arena, you know. I have lots of laser tag experience. If you need a reference just ask Kuvira.”

Asami stiffens against you, and you look back at her. Her eyes are widening and she leans back away from you. “Korra, would you like to move in?”

“What? Where?”

“Here!” Asami folds one of her legs under her and turns so she can face you. “You and Kuvira. Greater Unity Consulting. This could be your office!” She gestures wildly. “I don’t really want to move up here, and I don’t have another use for it, so you guys could use it! Make it your own.” She grabs your arm and shakes it around a little in excitement, and it makes a smile creep up at the corners of your mouth, even though you’re a little confused. “Oh, I mean, if you want to. You don’t have to. Of course. Duh,” she adds, embarrassed at her overreaction. 

You bite your lip to keep your smile from raging completely out of control at just how _adorable_ she is. “That… sounds great, Asami. Really, it does.” You look around. “We might have to redecorate though.”

She laughs, bright and loud like before, and it’s easy to forget how sad she can be sometimes. And you know that the two of you are okay, but when you think that maybe, _maybe_ you’d like to kiss her right now, you can’t quite bring yourself to just _do it_. There’s a nagging voice in your head that thinks that maybe you’re just friends, that she doesn’t feel the same way about you, or that she’s still afraid you’ll hurt her again. It stills you and you can only sit there, helpless to her charms and grace and the eyes that sparkle even through the dimness. You’re hyper aware of the dust settling on her eyelashes and the feel of her fingers on your arm. They’re thin and gentle, but slightly calloused. You want to explore her palms with your fingers and maybe bury your hands in her hair and-

A door bangs open loudly. “What the actual _fuck_?” You hear Kuvira exclaim, and Asami startles against you. 

You groan as you stand and roll your shoulder a little, trying to work out some of its stiffness. “Hey,” you greet lightly, well aware that you’re standing in the middle of a particle board war zone. 

Kuvira retreats back into the stairwell and shouts down, “Found ‘em! They’re up here!”

You can hear Baatar ask as he jogs up the stairs, “What was all that noise? Did Varrick crash into the build...” he trails off as he comes to the doorway. “Wha- what happened!?” he asks, bewildered. 

Asami stands up next to you with a shy wave. Then she gives you a light bump with her elbow and says with a smirk, “She started it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by osmrice's beta hammer and readers like you.
> 
> I wrote a Christmas [one-shot](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/135944508470/its-asamis-first-christmas-alone-shes-pretty) if you haven't had enough of those yet.
> 
> ilu


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami gets swept up in the moment.

The past two weeks have been a blur. For the most part, it’s been wonderful. Everything is falling into place just as you’d planned and you feel more in control than you have in years. The factory is moving forward in great strides, especially since you have Cabbage Corp behind you. The board has accepted your factory proposal with minimal grumbling, and they readily agreed to back Greater Unity Consulting when they heard that it had already been contracted by Varrick Global. You know that a year ago it wouldn’t have been so easy, and you’re not sure they would have supported you in the end. It makes you think that they’re beginning to trust you, and it fills you with confidence. 

Overall, you can’t complain. There’s even been a huge boom in electric car consumption and you’re hopeful that you might be able to scale up production once the factory is completed. It makes you excited for the future of the company for the first time in two years.

And yet, you’re unhappy.

Destroying your father’s office had been surprisingly cathartic. You had never noticed that under the thin veneer of professionalism and class there was only cheaply made furniture. Dismantling all trace of him from within the building lifted a burden you didn’t know you were carrying, but it had brought feelings you thought you had suppressed bubbling to the surface. Afterwards you had retreated to the comfortable solace of your work just as you always had, but it’s less effective now. You had been content to live between the skeletons of your father’s legacy, but Korra had made them impossible to ignore and now your old wounds are raw and painful.

Your father has been radio silent since the altercation in your office. You have no desire to see or speak to him, but even when you’re alone and idle, he haunts you and tarnishes all the shine off your accomplishments.

During the first couple of nights after the destruction, you had been able to banish those thoughts by replacing them with Korra. Sometimes it’s her wide, blue eyes that make you feel vulnerable and young, and like you’re capable of being more than just a Sato. Sometimes it’s her gentle, calloused fingers that you pretend are skating across your skin instead of your own and make you feel like you’re capable of trusting someone. Sometimes it’s her kindness and empathy that make you feel like you’re capable of loving someone.

After a few days, however, you weren’t able to retreat to thoughts of Korra anymore. Every day that you don’t see her the doubt creeps in. Doubt about whether you can prove your father wrong; doubt about whether Korra feels the same way; doubt about whether you’re capable of any of the things she makes you feel. 

It’s not as if you’re a _complete_ stranger to relationships. You had dated in school, but it was always at arm’s length. You had never allowed yourself any real attachment, and eventually each person had become frustrated with your inherent aloofness. It never bothered you. You just told yourself you were too busy to be lonely and for the most part, it worked.

Now, after two weeks of torturing yourself, you’ve had enough. Riding a flash of bravery, you decide to set aside years of relationship conditioning. It doesn’t matter that Korra hasn’t sought you out, even though she technically works in the same building as you. You’re done trying to be casual about what Korra means to you.

You haven’t been to the top floor since that day with Korra, and you’re startled when you open the door to a completely barren room, all the debris having been cleared out. In the middle is a worn card table and several metal folding chairs where Kuvira and Baatar seem to be in an intense, quiet argument. They stop as soon as they notice you exit the stairwell, and Kuvira gives you a soft, sad look. “Oh, hey. I thought you might be Korra.”

Your heart gives a hard pang. “Is she not around?”

Kuvira shakes her head. “I’ve hardly seen her leave the site except to sleep and shower. I texted her earlier to see if she’d come meet us for dinner, but so far no word.”

You don’t want to seem to disappointed, even though you know Kuvira can see right through you. You approach the table. “How’s it going?”

Baatar clicks a few times on his laptop and turns it to show you. There are pictures of the generator, and you scroll through them, seeing it from all the different angles. You feel a little guilty that you’ve been so consumed with your own work that you haven’t checked in on the generator earlier. And yeah, maybe you had stayed away at least partially because of the hurt of Korra’s silence, but now you just feel petulant. She’s working incredibly hard, which is exactly what you’ve been doing too.

“We’re almost there,” Baatar interrupts your pity party. “It should be ready for a test run tomorrow, if Korra gives the okay.”

Kuvira rolls her neck side to side and it cracks loudly. “I imagine she will. She’s been desperate to finish it since the salmon are spawning upstream and they’ll be migrating down any day now.”

“Is that why you guys have been working at such a breakneck pace? I can’t believe you’ve done so much in just two weeks,” you say. 

Baatar hums the affirmative as he packs away a few papers in a briefcase. “She must have run up and down that river a hundred times monitoring the salmon.” He grimaces. “I feel terrible for her; I don’t know how she does it. She seems well enough, though.”

Kuvira is standing now, stretching her back, prompting more pops and she lets out a slow breath. “That’s just because you haven’t spent a lot of time with her yet.” Kuvira turns back to you. “She’s exhausted,” she continues. “She’s loving it, and the preserve is coming along really well, but she needs a break.”

“Is she okay?” you ask quietly.

Kuvira gives you a kind smile. “Yeah, she’s alright. She misses you too. She always asks me if I’ve seen you and how you’re doing.” You glance momentarily at Baatar, who has packed his things and is standing by the table awkwardly. Kuvira notices your hesitation and laughs. “Don’t worry about him, he’s not going to tell anyone. He’d need friends first.”

“Hey!” Baatar protests indignantly, but there’s no bite to it.

“She hasn’t texted me at all.” You hate how needy that sounds.

Kuvira shrugs. “Yeah, that happens sometimes. She gets tunnel vision and doesn’t stop until she collapses. Maybe if you come to the test tomorrow you can talk some sense into her.” She raises an eyebrow expectantly.

You chuckle. “I got the message.”

“Good!” she proclaims. “It’s about time one of you did.” She starts to pack up her own laptop. “Do you want to grab some dinner with us? Maybe a celebratory drink since the generator’s almost done?”

You’re so pleasantly surprised by the invitation that it takes a long beat for you to respond. “S-sure. I’d like that.”

You follow them to the elevator as you chat amiably, and you consider that maybe these past few weeks have given you more than just Korra.

\--

The night had gone exceptionally well, as far as you could tell. You’d asked Bolin to join you and when he and Opal had arrived at the restaurant, Baatar had scooped up Opal into a hug - then gave a more reluctant one to Bolin - and explained that he and Opal were siblings in answer to your questioning look. 

It wasn’t long - or after many drinks - until you were all comfortable with each other. Kuvira had made an offhand comment about the local soccer team - the infamously terrible Fire Ferrets who somehow were on a winning streak - for her and Bolin to spend the next forty-five minutes in heated conversation. It turned out that you and Baatar had more in common than you’d thought, too. He became surprisingly easy to talk to as the night wore on.

It was around the time when Kuvira had bought the second round of shots that things had started to get a bit blurry. It was only then that thoughts of Korra began to manifest themselves, which surprised you; you had spent all dinner just having fun, without thoughts of what could have been with your father, or could be with Korra. But once she entered your thoughts, she wouldn’t leave. 

You must have mentioned Korra a few too many times, because eventually Kuvira had taken you aside and all but demanded that you call her. You remember her face being really close to yours and the smell of hot liquor on her breath. “Asami, call her, I’m serious. Hey. Hey! Seriously, tell her all the- tell her all the things you just told me, she needs to hear them! I promis- I _promise_ , Asami, it’ll be great.”

And apparently you had believed her because in the morning you check your outgoing calls to see that you had indeed placed one to Korra a little after midnight. It had lasted fifty-six seconds but you don’t remember any of it. You can only hope it hadn’t been _too_ embarrassing.

Your hangover today isn’t too bad - probably thanks to Jong - because when all of you had stumbled into Waffle House at an unreasonable hour, he had forced you to drink what must have amounted to a gallon of water. Bless him and his incredible, life saving waffles. He’d even made a smiley face with chocolate chips on yours.

The drive to zone twenty-four takes about twenty minutes from your apartment, and it’s mostly narrow, twisty roads that you really have fun on. It relaxes you and just like every other time you take a long drive you promise yourself you’ll do it more often.

The generator is the first thing you see when you get out of your car. You recognize the distant figures of Kuvira and Baatar standing side by side, mirror images in the way they position themselves. You cross the expansive meadow to join them, passing several pole tents with tables and various types of workers milling underneath them. There are sections of land that have been marked off with wooden stakes and colorful ribbon, and there are trees and flowers being planted by groups of teenagers. 

Kuvira spots you and waves you over. She looks fresh and well-rested, which is mildly offensive, but Baatar looks downright _haggard_. “Good morning,” Kuvira greets. “I’m glad you were feeling well enough to join us!”

You give her a playful scowl. “No thanks to you.”

Kuvira smirks. “Before you ask, no, I haven’t seen Korra.”

Your brow furrows. “I- I wasn’t-”

Kuvira chuckles. “You might not remember all of last night very clearly, but _I_ certainly do.”

You feel your face heat up instantly, but you shove it aside and lean in to whisper, “I might not remember _everything_ but I _definitely_ remember someone jumping on Baatar’s lap when she thought she saw a mouse.”

Kuvira’s blush is just as instantaneous as yours. She narrows her eyes. “We’ll call it a draw.”

“Agreed.” You laugh.

Baatar places a hand on Kuvira’s shoulder. “We should go, the foreman wants us to go with him to meet with Varrick.”

Kuvira throws up her hands in aggravation. “Of _course_ he does.” She asks you, “Can you go find Korra? We’re going to need her soon and her phone’s not on.” Kuvira looks a little concerned, but gives you a grateful smile when you agree.

You wander around the site, enjoying the space and the fresh air that had been absent from your life recently. The majority of the tents and workers are scattered across the meadow bordering the river. To the west is an expanse of forest, and to the north is a dense field of overgrown plants and small trees. You can see some messily cut paths into the field, and it’s there that you see a large congregation of young people. Some are tying strings around various plants and others are planting or recording data into notebooks.

You hear one of them say, “Korra wants these closer to where the observation deck is,” as he gestures to several plants on the ground.

The other nods. “Okay, I’ll get the wheelbarrow.”

“Excuse me,” you interrupt. “I’m actually looking for Korra. Do you know where I could find her?”

“Uh, yeah,” the first one answers. “She’s further in.” He points towards the path cut through the brush. “If you follow the path you’ll probably find her, but she should be close to the construction.”

The other young man is smirking at you. “Are you Asami?”

“Um, yes?” you answer hesitantly.

The two share a look. “Cool. Yeah, go on in. She’s in there somewhere.”

You nod your head in thanks and start down the path. It’s been cleared, but in a rushed manner and the long grass and plants reach under the hem of your pants and rub against your ankles. You let your fingers ghost over the purple violets and breathe in the thick, floral scent.

It’s so quiet that you almost miss the construction. If it hadn’t been for the rapid, gentle taps from a hammer against a nail, you would have walked right past it. There are several workers building an observation deck, but they are doing so in silence. One worker is screwing screws into a doorframe with a handheld screwdriver instead of the power tool by her feet. 

A twig snaps under your foot, and everyone stops immediately to look at you. “Uh, I’m looking for Korra?” you say. 

One man shushes you with a finger to his lips before gesturing with his thumb behind him. You wince and whisper, “Sorry. Thanks.” Everyone returns to their work, the light taps resuming as you walk past the deck to a line of dense brush. After looking back at the worker and receiving an encouraging nod, you push through the brush to a small clearing, where you find Korra, sprawled out on the ground.

There’s a sketchbook by her feet and a pen still threaded between her fingers. Her right arm is thrown lazily across her eyes and you can hear her snoring softly. You kneel and pick up her sketchbook and thumb through it quietly. There are dozens of sketches, some hastily scrawled and some meticulously drawn and shaded. You stop when you come across one that isn’t an animal or plant. It’s the bottom half of a woman’s face, mouth and jaw, and there’s a sharp intake of air when it occurs to you that it’s _your_ mouth and jaw. Korra snorts lightly, and you quickly flip back to the page you had found it on before dropping the sketchbook. Korra lifts her arm away from her face and winces at the light before rubbing her eyes. 

“Hey,” you say gently.

“Hey,” Korra groans as she stretches and scratches her abdomen - that damn abdomen - before stuttering, “W-wait, Asami?”

You giggle, “Yep, that’s me.”

Korra pats the ground for a moment before she finds her glasses - those damn glasses - and puts them on. “Is this a dream?”

You raise an eyebrow. “What makes you ask that?”

“Well. I woke up in a sunny field full of flowers and you’re here.” She huffs. “Seems like a dream to me.” 

She blinks at you owlishly and shakes her head a little, making her hair sway around her glasses. She’s still groggy and it makes her expressions slow. She looks exhausted, but when her eyes clear of the fog and she finds you, the shadows under her eyes disappear and she smiles brilliantly. 

Your chest tightens briefly and all the confidence you’d driven here with melts away. “Hi,” you breathe.

“Hi. What brings you to my neck of the” -she glances around at your surroundings- “prairie?”

“Looking for you.” You stand and offer your hand to help her up. She accepts it and pulls herself up abruptly, almost colliding with you before taking a step back and releasing your hand. She dusts herself off a little and you help her pick out some loose grass from her hair. Afterwards she shakes her hair side to side with a little grin, sending more grass into the air. She picks up her sketchbook and tucks it under her arm before pushing aside the brush and stepping back through towards the observation deck. She leaves her arm there, allowing you to step through easily before she lets the long grass and flowers sway back into place.

Her steps slow when she notices the silent construction. “What’s… what’s going on?”

Everyone stops to look at her and the man that had shushed you earlier waves to her. “Hey! Finally up, huh?” All of the work resumes, and it’s like someone has suddenly turned the volume up to full blast as the construction regains its normal tempo and noise level.

Korra rubs the back of her neck and bounces the toe of her foot. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

The man grabs a clipboard from the partially built deck and walks over. “Got a couple of questions for ya, if you have a sec.”

“Yeah of course, what’s up?” Korra steps away from you and sidles up to him to look at the clipboard.

“How far do you want this deck to come out? To where the public trail is going to be?” He indicates to something you can’t see.

Korra nods. “Yeah, the public can use the deck, but here on the other side, don’t bring it out as far. It would interfere with the wildlife corridor.”

Korra’s leadership skills have never been on display like they are now. You want to pay attention to what she’s saying, but you just watch her instead as several other workers approach her. She doesn’t seem overwhelmed and she dispatches instructions with grace. You can tell that she’s endeared herself to everyone - it’s not hard to see how - and she makes the others laugh easily.

You notice one of the men from earlier pushing a wheelbarrow approach her, and they talk about how they’re integrating pockets of the reserve with public park land, and how they plan to maximize biodiversity, but it’s all a blur to you.

After a handful of minutes her eyes seeks yours and when she finds you she motions to you from within a crowd of workers. She detaches herself with a thank you, and you walk away together.

“Sorry about that,” she apologizes. “It’s been busy.”

“Who are the younger ones?” you ask, motioning over to the man pushing the wheelbarrow.

Korra grins. “I convinced one of the Republic City University science professors to give his students extra credit if they volunteered to help me set up the preserve. It’s been a huge help, actually. And,” she shrugs, “turns out I like teaching.”

You think back to that day in the park, with the little girl and the ducks. It makes you smile to think of how great Korra is with children, and how that could extend into teaching. 

She runs her fingers through her hair. “So to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I came for the generator test run.”

Korra jerks, startled. “That’s _today_?”

“Yeah,” you confirm, “Kuvira has been trying to reach you.”

“Ah, yeah…” Korra has a pained look. “I lost my phone in the river.”

You snort. “You _what_? In the river?”

“A couple of days ago, yeah.” You remember last night’s phone call, and can’t help but let out a short sigh of relief.

You exit the prairie and spot a large congregation of people milling close to the generator. “I guess it’s starting,” you observe.

Bolin is standing a short distance away, further up the bank and overlooking the reservoir. He’s surrounded by white buckets. “What’s he doing?” Korra asks.

You return her confused look and you both head over, and you can hear Bolin cooing at one of the buckets. “It’s gonna be okay, Harold. I’m gonna miss you too, but you’ll be out in the wild again! I’m sure your friends miss you.”

“Bolin?” Korra asks. “What are you doing?”

Bolin huffs, as if it were obvious. “I’m saying goodbye!” You lean over and peer into the bucket, where a trout sends up a splash of water. “Hey!” Bolin reels back. “Come on, Harold, don’t be like that. You _gotta_ go back!”

The buckets are lined up along the reservoir, and Bolin grasps the bucket with both hands and pushes the bucket on its side, sending Harold into the water with a splash. Bolin sniffles loudly, “Be good!”

He wraps his hands around two different buckets and tips them over as well, freeing two more trout. “Zelda, P.J, I’ll miss you!” Two more buckets. “Bolin Jr One! Take care of your brother. That goes double for you, Bolin Jr Two!” Bolin’s voice cracks a little and he lets out a gentle sob. “Daddy loves you!”

Korra joins him, tipping another bucket. “Voyager, you better behave! I mean it!” Bolin calls after the fish as it frantically swims away from the shore.

Korra and Bolin tip over six more buckets, Bolin tearfully saying farewell to each one. The last one, ‘Korra Senior’ makes Korra’s eyebrows disappear under her bangs. “ _What_? Does that mean I’m Korra _Junior_?” she asks, incredulous. 

Bolin wheezes wetly, and Korra’s face softens, patting his shoulder. “Come on buddy, let’s go make sure this turbine doesn’t turn them into fish cakes.” Bolin keens loudly and you smack Korra on the arm. “Ack! Kidding, kidding! I didn’t mean it, sorry!”

You comfort Bolin during the walk to the generator, and he seems mostly recovered by the time you arrive. As soon as Kuvira spots you she makes a beeline for Korra. “There you are, we need you we need you come onnnn.” She grabs Korra’s elbow and drags her off towards a small building close by, which you imagine to be the control room for the generator.

It’s only a few minutes of milling around and making polite conversation with the people who recognize you before Korra reappears at your side, and you turn to speak to her when Kuvira steps out in front of the crowd and a hush falls over everyone. 

Kuvira is standing with her arms behind her back. “Before we begin the test, Korra and I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for coming out here and putting this together in record time. Especially Baatar, who was steadfast in his efforts to correct every mistake I made,” a chuckle ripples through the crowd, “and Asami, without whom we never would have made it this far.” There’s a loud clearing of a throat behind Kuvira, and you see a vein in her forehead push against her skin. “And Varrick, who beli-”

Varrick pushes forward, sliding past Kuvira. “Thank you Kuvira! You know, when I started this project all these three weeks ago…”

Kuvira rolls her eyes _hard_ and walks off back into the control room. Korra leans in to whisper, “He’s been driving her insane ever since they started construction. I’m amazed she hasn’t punched him yet.”

“I admire her restraint,” you deadpan.

You hear the generator sputter to life and Korra grasps your elbow. “Come on!” she says excitedly. 

She slides her hand down your arm until you’re holding hands and you’re jogging behind her. “Don’t you want to be there for the test?” you ask.

“I will be!” she shouts as she runs past the generator as it starts to hum. She releases your hand when she gets to the edge of the river bank and begins sliding down recklessly, kicking up dirt and rocks in her wake. 

She runs straight into the water without hesitation and you call out after her, “Is this how you lost your phone?”

She laughs and lets out a long, “Maaaaybe.”

The generator is humming more loudly now, and you can see a stream of water pouring through the turbine chamber, making the water froth. There are occasional splashes as fish are ejected out with the water from the reservoir. You slide down the bank part way, looking at Korra for her reaction. She’s just staring into the water, watching the fish swim out of the turbine chamber. Her eyes are flicking back and forth, checking every fish she can see for signs of injury. There’s a huge mass of them now, salmon jumping up out of the water and following the current down past Korra. It’s a little silly, how beautiful it is, the shining water and the fish hopping and the sun setting and Korra _glowing_ , her body half submerged. 

“Asami!” she yells. You don’t have to respond, and she doesn’t need to elaborate. It’s working, the turbine is doing its job and leaving the fish uninjured. You meet her eyes and you never want to be looked at again if it isn’t the way Korra is looking at you right now. Her eyes are alight with passion and excitement and you’re swept up in her child-like energy. “Asami!” she shouts again, louder, her voice cracking a little. 

You start running down the bank and she’s climbing out of the water and you don’t know what you’re thinking, the way you jump into her arms. She catches you easily, and you wrap your hands around her head and you can feel her laughing into your sternum. “Korra!” you shout. “You did it!” You press your lips to the top of her damp hair. She smells like the river, and faintly of fish and summer and grass and so distinctly _Korra_ that you’re trapped, breathing her in while she’s still in the river. She’s kicking up water as she spins you and you’re sort of wet but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is Korra.

She mutters something against you, but you can’t understand her muffled words. You set your hands on her shoulders and push lightly. She understands and immediately lowers you into the river with her. You keep your arms around her shoulders when she does so, and she’s watching you with such a gentle, soft, _loving_ look and then you’re kissing her.

It’s sloppy. You’ve realized too late that it’s happening. Your lips brush past hers and Korra freezes. You’re mostly kissing the side of her mouth and you pull back immediately in surprise. Her arms are still around you, but have shifted to gently cupping your shoulder blades. Any words you want to say, to apologize for surprising her, to explain, something, _anything_ , die in your throat. Her face flickers from pleasantly surprised to confusion as she searches your face. She glances at your mouth and you really want to try kissing her again - do it properly - but her brow crinkles worriedly and your brain sputters and shuts off. She huffs an amused laugh, but it’s cold and you feel a bolt of hurt travel through you because what does _that_ mean? No, no no, this is falling apart, what is happening? Is she rejecting you? Is she under the impression that it was just an accident? You have to do something, you have to fix this before it’s too la-

You feel more than hear Kuvira’s footsteps pounding up the river bank and you’re not sure if the curse you hear is in your head or if you’re giving voice to it. Korra’s hands slide from your back and the water becomes cold in your boots. “Korra!” Kuvira yells as soon as her head peeks over the top of the bank. “We have power!” 

Korra doesn’t say anything and when you turn back to look at her she’s watching the water at your feet, and she gives you that soft, crooked smile and it’s like she isn’t even here anymore. You want to grab her face and kiss her again and bring her back to you and then she’d know that it wasn’t an accident. Well, it was, you hadn’t meant to get swept up like that, but you really do like her. A lot. Like, _a lot_ a lot.

But now you’re scared. Scared that you’ve missed your chance. You’d been afraid this whole time to take a chance on Korra because of the projects and how much her friendship means to you. If you do what you want - push her down into the river and kiss her until you can’t breathe - you could ruin everything and there would be no turning back. You would have to own your actions and everything that you’ve learned your entire life about protecting yourself would come crashing down and it paralyzes you.

Korra has walked past you and out of the water. Kuvira has climbed down the bank and they grab each other, laughing and hugging. You can hear Korra chant against Kuvira’s shoulder, “It’s working, it’s working, it’s working…” And Kuvira has the brightest smile you’ve ever seen on her and you chide yourself for making this moment about you. They’ve worked since they were in college for this moment, and you’re intruding.

You climb back up the river bank and when you crest it you find Bolin and Baatar. “Is it working?” Bolin asks. 

You push aside your hurt and give him a brilliant smile. “Was there any doubt?” you say with confidence.

Bolin mirrors your smile, grabs you and picks you up, pinning your arms to your sides. He’s holding you too tightly, and you let out a little wheeze. He doesn’t fit your body like Korra does, but he drops you quickly in favor of offering a hug to Baatar. Baatar shakes his head, holding his arms out protectively and backing away slowly, but Bolin will not be deterred. Baatar yelps and sprints away, Bolin hot on his heels with his arms outstretched.

Korra and Kuvira appear over the bank’s edge, Kuvira’s arm slung across Korra’s back. Kuvira releases her and approaches you. “Asami. Thank you.” You meet her in a hug. 

You grin, “I’m glad to be a part of it, in some small way.”

“We couldn’t have done it without you.” She raises an eyebrow and glances back at Korra before patting your shoulder and laughing as Baatar runs past, intercepting Bolin and accepting his enthusiastic hug instead.

You want to curse Kuvira and tell her to _stop interrupting_ every time you think you’re brave enough to talk to Korra about whatever it is going on between you, but you know it isn’t exactly fair. It’s never as easy as you think it will be when you actually see her. But you want to do it. You’ll do it, right now. You’ll tell her everything that you feel, everything that confuses you and yet makes you see so clearly. You’ll lower your walls and be vulnerable because she’s worth it.

You turn to her. “Do you want a ride back to your apartment? Get some rest?” you ask with a friendly smile.

Korra looks uncomfortable for a moment before barely meeting your eye. “Ah, no, that’s okay. I can catch a ride with Kuvira.” She looks over at her. “You’re heading back soon, right?”

Kuvira’s brow furrows in concern, and her eyes flick to yours before she haltingly answers, “Yeah, sure. We can leave in a few minutes…”

“Cool.” Korra turns back to you. “Thanks for the offer, though.”

You nod slowly and swallow your disappointment and hurt and confusion to put a hand on her arm. “Congratulations, Korra.”

She smiles and puts her hand on top of yours, finally meeting your eye and says, “Thank you, Asami.” You can tell she’s trying to put as much meaning as she can into those three words, but you don’t want to hear them. You say a few hasty goodbyes before turning away to start the long walk back to your car, alone.

Damn, damn, _damn_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [hey](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/) oh come at me bro
> 
> osmrice is the Baatar to my Kuvira (in the sense that she steadfastly corrects all of my mistakes.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra figures it out.

Watching Asami walk away is one of the most difficult things you’ve ever had to do. She had obviously wanted a moment alone with you to talk about what had happened, but you couldn’t face it. Not yet. You had been so close to pressing your lips against hers again, to do it properly, but her surprised, mortified expression had made you hesitate. The possibility that it was a mistake - that maybe she’d wanted to kiss your cheek or had simply gotten swept up in the moment - occurred to you, and it _hurt_.

It still hurts. You’re in the back seat of Kuvira’s car, your forehead pressed against the window, barely managing to stay awake. Baatar is in the passenger seat and they’re laughing about something and you can see Kuvira’s eyes crinkle around the edges in the rear view mirror. It makes you smile despite the way your stomach is twisted into knots.

When Kuvira drops Baatar off at his apartment, you close your eyes and casually let your mouth hang open a little, feigning sleep in order to avoid talking to Kuvira. It’s not that you mind talking to her, it’s that you’re just not ready to discuss why you hadn’t accepted Asami’s offer. Kuvira doesn’t disturb you; she just merely continues the drive home in silence. After a few minutes you crack an eye open and sneak a peek at the rear view mirror again. Kuvira’s brow is furrowed worriedly, and it makes you feel a little guilty. 

You actually do doze off a bit and when you arrive at your place Kuvira puts a hand on your knee and shakes you gently. “Korra, we’re home.”

“Mm, okay,” you slur and stumble out of the car. The weariness acquired from the past two weeks is catching up to you and you struggle to even climb the stairs to your apartment. You’re digging through your pockets in search of your keys when you remember that they ended up in the river too, along with your phone. You slump forward against the door, pressing your forehead against the wood with a groan. Kuvira lets out an amused snort when she finds you there, your legs hardly supporting your weight. She reaches under you to unlock the door and you let your body weight push the door open when the lock finally clicks.

You stagger immediately down the hall to your room. “Hey, Korra?” Kuvira pipes up from behind you.

You wave her off without a backwards glance. “Sleep now, talk later,” you grunt.

You push the door to close it, but it doesn’t quite make it and it’s still cracked open. You struggle out of your clothes - they’re still slightly damp from earlier - and collapse into bed. Kuvira taps on the door gently and peeks in, but you lie still and she enters the room long enough to yank your blanket out from under you and throw it over you. She leaves, shutting the door quietly behind her, and you let yourself get swallowed by sleep.

The next morning you’re curled up so completely in your blanket that it takes several moments of desperate struggling before you’re able to get up. You drape the blanket around you like a cape and pad over to your desk before throwing yourself into your creaky desk chair. You dig around in the bottom drawer and eventually you find what you’re looking for. It’s a phone, several years old, kind of thick and heavy compared to what you’re used to. There are nicks dotting the edges of the metal and the screen has a small crack in the corner. You plug it in to charge; it’ll have to do until you have time to go buy a new one.

You must smell terrible, so you take a long, hot shower and let your sore muscles release some of their tension. You curse yourself for the punishment you’ve put your body through during the past two weeks. You sigh with pleasure when you stretch under the hot water. As much as your body is regretting it, these weeks have offered you incredible satisfaction as far as your work is concerned. 

Your only clean clothes are your exceedingly comfortable, old Zaofu University cuffed sweatpants - which are so worn and old it’s a miracle that they haven’t disintegrated - and a loose, long sleeved shirt. You boot up your phone - which takes an unreasonably long time - and spend an hour on Skype with the phone company to get them to activate the SIM card to your old number. You leave it on your desk while it connects to the network and start collecting dirty clothes from around your bedroom floor. 

You’ve gathered all your clothes in your arms - you’re too stubborn to find a basket - when your phone starts vibrating and just. Won’t. Stop. It’s buzzing so much it startles you and you just stand there, burdened with clothes, watching your phone dance across your desk from the other side of the room. When it finally stops you drop all of your clothes in a heap and walk over. You unlock your phone and cringe when you see dozens of messages and six voicemails. Most of them are texts from Kuvira, but some are from your mom, getting increasingly frantic as time goes on without word from you. 

You call your voicemail number. First, it’s Kuvira on the day you lost your phone. _“Hey, are you still at the site? Call me when you get this.”_

Kuvira leaves another message later that same day. _“Why’s your phone off? You do realize that makes you difficult to contact, right?”_

The next day, your mother leaves a message. _“Hey sweetie, I miss you. Call me back, okay? Sometime during this century would be nice, but I’m not complaining! I know you’re busy. I love you! Oh, Dad says hi.”_

You are kind of the worst daughter.

Kuvira calls you the day after that. _“Your mom called me, said you aren’t answering your phone. So, you’re dead, right?”_

The fifth message is from a number you don’t recognize. At first, there’s a long beat of static before you hear something like a sigh as the message ends.

The sixth message and the most recent one is surprising. _“Korra! Korra, hey. It’s Asami. But you probably knew that ‘cause of my voice. Um, I’m out right now with Kuvira and Baatar and Bolin and Opal. Did you know Baatar is Opal’s brother? I didn’t. Anyway, it’s been a good night… I miss you though. But I also miss you in general because it’s been awhile since I’ve seen or heard from you and I hope it’s okay that I called and I’ve been drinking a little and I hope I’m not annoying you. I wish you would have picked up though so we could talk because”_ -a hard breath- “ _I really like talking to you. I really like_ you. _Oh god, I just said that, didn’t I? Kuvira told me to tell you because she thinks she- I mean you- like me too and right about now I’m really_ really _hoping that’s true because if it isn’t I’ve just made a huge ass out of myself and I really don’t want to screw anything up between us because you- Bolin! No!_ That isn’t a trash ca- _”_

Your phone keeps repeating the same message, _“To delete this message press seven. To save this message in the archives press eight. To return the call press…”_ but you barely hear it. You’re holding the phone inches away from your face and you’re staring with unfocused eyes at the floor and Asami’s words replay in your mind over and over and you are _such_ an idiot. You let her walk away. She _likes you_ and you let her walk away. She _really_ likes you, and you really _really_ like her, and you are the _worst_. 

You barrel out of your bedroom door as you hurriedly tug on your shoes. You have to fix this. You have to fix this right now. Go, go, _go_. 

“Korra?” Kuvira is in the kitchen, her mug halfway to her mouth. “...what’s up?”

“Can I borrow your car?” you blurt. 

She blinks slowly. Too slowly. Blink _faster_ Kuvira, this is a damn _emergency_. “Sure, I guess?” she answers and you grab her keys from the counter before rushing into the kitchen to plant a sloppy, wet kiss on her cheek. She reels back, aghast. “What the he-”

“Thankyoubye!” you shout behind you as you run out the door.

You take the stairs three at a time, and almost collide with a very nervous looking Baatar on his way up. He presses the flowers he’s holding to his chest to avoid you and you do a double take as you careen down the stairs. You skid to a stop and look him up and down. “Why Baatar, you charmer, are those for me?” you tease. 

Baatar had been doing a valiant job of suppressing his blush so far, but at that quip it blooms all over his face and ears. “Er- no, uh I’m here-” he stammers. 

“I know I’m hard to resist but I must insist you try,” you deadpan. “I’m unfortunately interested in someone else. I think I know someone else who would appreciate some flowers though.” You grin and deliberately look up the stairwell. 

He purses his lips determinedly. “Right…” 

Baatar is still flushed and you grin and bump him with your elbow as he ambles past you.“Good luck.”

You watch him climb the stairs for a few seconds before you remember your mission and dash out of your building to Kuvira’s car while dialing Asami’s number. She doesn’t answer though, and you curse and throw your phone down onto the passenger seat.

You’ve never been a great driver, but you still make it to Future Industries in record time and in one piece. You try to act as casually as possible as you speed walk to the elevators, but as soon as the doors close you bounce impatiently on the balls of your feet as the floors slowly slide by.

Bolin is at his desk and a pretty girl with short, black hair in a sundress is leaning against it. “Korra!” Bolin greets. “This is my lovely, amazing girlfriend, Opal! Opal, this is Korra.”

Opal offers her hand for you to shake and you have to quickly wipe your palm on your pants - your _sweatpants_ that you forgot to change, way to go Korra - before you take her hand because of how sweaty you are. “Hi, I’ve heard a lot about you!” Opal says, gracefully not mentioning the state of your hand, or of you in general, really. 

“Good, yeah- good to meet you.” You turn to Bolin. “Asami?”

“Oh, she’s not here.” Your heart sinks. “Didn’t she tell you? She’s leaving to meet with contractors in Ba Sing Se for the factory project. Isn’t that great?” Bolin claps his hands excitedly, oblivious to the storm raging in your chest. “It’s really happening!”

Opal is looking at you worriedly, and she lays a hand on Bolin’s arm. “Uh, honey?”

“No, no, _no_ , has she already left?” you all but shout. “Should I go to the airport?”

Bolin looks disconcerted. “What? No! Calm down, crazy. She’s probably at her apartment, packing. I can just give you her address.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay, that would be good. Thank you.” You grimace.

He scribbles down the address on a scrap of paper and you snatch the piece like a lifeline. “Thanks Bolin, you’re the best!” You add over your shoulder, “Nice to meet you, Opal!”

You hear Bolin murmur, “Go to the airport… what are you going to do, exactly? Stop the plane?” under his breath as the elevator doors close.

\--

Asami lives on the top floor of an unassuming building close to Yue Bay. It takes about fifteen minutes to get there, and you spend that time psyching yourself up into a frenzy. You take the stairs to work off some of the energy thrumming through you. You knock - maybe more like pound - on the door. She’s going to open the door and you’re going to kiss her, properly, and you’ll apologize for avoiding her and just being stupid in general - you knock again - and you’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to her and-

“Korra?”

All of your best laid plans disappear the moment you see her at the top of the stairwell. Her hair is up in a messy bun and she’s wearing a baggy, grey shirt. One hand is holding a paper bag and the other is resting on her hip, holding her keys. You take a large step away from the door. “Uh, hi,” you mumble. Her eyes settle on your sweatpants for a moment before looking back up at you.

“Hello.” She walks up to the door, unlocking it and letting the door swing open. “Would you like to come in?” she asks. Her expression isn’t exactly warm - not like you’re used to - but it isn’t unfriendly either. 

You steel yourself and say with all the confidence you can muster, “Yeah, I would, if that’s alright.” 

She gives you a slightly bemused smile and gestures for you to enter before her. You do so and she closes the door behind her, turning on a light and kicking off her flats. 

Her apartment is a loft, with the kitchen to the left and stairs beside it that lead to the upper level of the apartment. You can see a desk and several bookcases on the balcony that juts out over the kitchen. It’s a beautiful, simple space, meticulously clean and decorated with different shades of warm colors, alleviating some of the barrenness. There’s a sitting area in front of you that looks as if it isn’t used very often.

Asami walks past you and sets her paper bag on the island that divides the kitchen from the living room. You’re still standing by the door, unsure of how to proceed, but she doesn’t seem to notice your awkwardness. She just looks back at you and asks, “Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks. I- uh, just wanted to talk.” You walk over and Asami moves to the other side of the island into the kitchen. 

“Oh?” she prompts.

You frown. You don’t want to play this game anymore, and you’re going to drag this conversation kicking and screaming into the open if you have to. “Asami, you know why I’m here.”

She bites her lip for a moment, then sighs deeply. “Korra, I wasn’t thinkin-”

“No, no I’m going to go first,” you interrupt forcefully. Her eyebrows lift but she says nothing. “I got your voicemail from the other night.”

She pales a little. “Voice… mail?”

You continue as if she hadn’t spoken. “It made me realize what an idiot I’ve been. And I’m tired of not knowing where we stand.” You round the island separating you. She doesn’t move away, but she folds her arm across her stomach protectively and hunches a little as though she’s withdrawing within herself. 

You halt, leaving room between you even though all you want is to take her in your arms. “I really like being your friend. I mean, who wouldn’t? You’re smart and funny and incredibly kind and well, you’re amazing.” Her mouth tightens a little at the corners in a small frown.

“But,” you continue, “you’re also like, _ridiculously_ beautiful and strong and,” you huff gently, “patient and generous and I am so, so into you.” Her eyes widen a little and you have to shut yours so you don’t lose your nerve. “And I’m sorry that it took me so long to tell you that. I don’t want to be just your friend. I want to take you on dates and climb more trees with you and make you laugh and hold your hand and-”

“Korra,” Asami interrupts seriously. She’s lowered her arm and taken a half step towards you. “Can I kiss you?”

You shake your head. “No,” you answer as you take two long steps. “I think it’s my turn.”

You’ve hardly finished your sentence before she’s met you halfway and you kiss her, properly this time, sliding your hands along her jaw and letting your fingers graze the soft hair at the nape of her neck. Her hands are on your biceps and she’s clenching your sleeves in her fists like she’s afraid you’ll float away. Her lips are waxy with lipstick and slide easily against yours. You set a relaxed pace, reveling in her soft lips and quiet sighs, but when you pull back a little she slides her arms under yours and traces your shoulder blades with her fingers before kissing you again, harder and more desperately. 

You let out a short whimper when she sucks your bottom lip into her mouth and you reflexively slide your tongue forward to meet hers. She keeps pushing against you, and you stagger backwards a little until she’s got you pinned against the kitchen island, her hips grinding into yours and you bite down on her lip a little harder than you mean to in surprise. She moans into your mouth and you’re pretty sure you could subsist off that sound alone. 

You’re hungry for her, wanting her closer, no, _closer_. Your fingers weave into her hair and gently scratch her scalp and her bun falls away, sending her hair cascading down over your hands and brushing against your forehead. 

Her tempo hasn’t let up, only becoming more frantic and you match her push for push until her leg - which has apparently found its way between yours - presses against you and you gasp, “S-shit.”

She immediately pulls back, but leaves her hands where they are. “I’m sorry!” she says in a rush as panic spreads across her face. 

You don’t want her to pull away any farther so you cup her cheek gently with your palm and gaze into her darkened eyes. She leans into your touch and your heart feels _so_ full. “No, no it’s okay. Just- that was a lot.”

She sighs. “I’m sorry I got carried away.”

“I- uh, I liked it.” You lick your lips. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Me too,” she breathes and leans her forehead against yours. 

You snicker. “We’re stupid.”

She laughs and her breath ghosts over your face. “Yeah, we are.”

You stay there, just looking at each other with goofy smiles for what feels like an eternity. Her hands slide down your ribs and hips until they find your hands and she laces your fingers together and straightens. Her fingers tighten around yours and you lean off the counter, your lower back sighing gratefully. 

Asami bites her lip shyly and your heart melts. “Will you go out with me? On a date? An _actual_ one?”

You pull her in close to you again and she shudders when you press your lips against the top of her shoulder. “I’d love to, but aren’t you leaving for Ba Sing Se?”

Asami groans. “I forgot. I leave tonight.” You press another kiss, this one against her collarbone and she steps away from you so she can look you in the eye. “But I’ll only be gone a day or two.” She purses her lips. “A day. I’ll make it a day.”

You chuckle. “Don’t rush on my account.”

“Who says I was doing it for you? I’m doing it for me. I want this. I want this date, I want whatever this is, I want it all.” There’s a faint dusting of pink on her cheeks, but she looks you steadfastly in the eye. “Or, you could come with me?”

“It’s tempting, but there’s too much to do at the site. Besides, you don’t need me there. I’d just be a distraction.”

She pouts adorably. “What if I want to be distracted by you?”

“Then we’d better get to it.” You tug on her fingers and lead her out of the kitchen while she follows you with wide eyes. You walk over to the couch and sit down, tugging her along with you. You bite your lip. “We, uh, don’t have to do anything but-”

“Korra. Shut up,” Asami whispers against your lips before she kisses you again.

\--

“Korra...”

Mmph.

“Korra?”

Wha-?

“Korra.”

“Mmm nooo,” you moan. You curl your hands tighter around Asami’s arms. 

Asami giggles. “Korra, I have to get ready.”

You crack an eye open and give her a skeptical look. “Says who?”

You’ve ended up napping on Asami’s couch. Or, more accurately, you ended up napping on Asami who is napping on her couch. She’s partially propped up against the armrest and you’re curled into her. One of her hands is running gently through your hair and the other one is resting on your waist.

“Ba Sing Se calls.” She nudges you a little. 

You screw your eyes shut tight and burrow further into her chest. “Well, call them back and tell them they can’t have you.”

You feel Asami’s laugh rumble through her. “As tempting as that is, I don’t think the contractors would like it very much if I told them I’m canceling because my girlfriend won’t get off me.”

You stiffen a fraction of a second before Asami does. You uncurl yourself and sit up a little, supporting yourself with your hands on either side of her. Asami’s mouth is parted slightly and her face is completely crimson. “I, uh- I mean-”

You cut her off. “I think normally that comes after a few dates, but since we have a lot of time to make up for, maybe we can fast forward a little bit. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

The blush on her cheeks hasn’t quite faded but her parted mouth slides into a small grin and she kisses you ardently. You return the kiss until you can’t contain your smile anymore. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

“If you insist,” she mumbles against your mouth. You spend a few minutes languidly kissing, your fingers drawing small circles onto her skin where her shirt has ridden up to her ribs. She hums a little, pulling away breathlessly before she looks at her watch. “I’m going to be late. I really, really have to go.” She slides out from under you and when she escapes you let yourself flop down onto the warm couch. 

You turn your head to the side and ask, “How can you be late? Aren’t you the pilot?”

“Yeah, but I want to get there at a reasonable hour. The first meeting in the morning is at eight.” Asami leans down with your glasses in her hands and you obediently sit up to allow her to put them on you. She’s looking at you with such a warm expression that when she tucks some of your hair back and traces the shell of your ear with her fingers, you shudder. “You’re really cute when you sleep.”

You smirk. “As opposed to the other times?” 

She rolls her eyes and stands, walking to the stairs. “Make yourself at home, I’m just gonna throw some stuff in a suitcase real quick.”

You roll over to your back and lay on the couch with your legs dangling over the armrest. You grab your phone to text Kuvira.

**ME! (3:32pm):** hows baatar? :P

Her response comes almost immediately. 

**Kuvira (3:32pm):** hows asami

**ME! (3:33pm):** she just got a gf

**Kuvira (3:35pm):** thats funny so did baatar

Your phone vibrates in your hand as you’re typing out a response to Kuvira. The number looks familiar, but you can’t quite place it. You might as well answer it though.

“Hello?” 

There’s a long beat before you hear a clearing of a throat and a gruff voice saying, “Hello, Korra.”

You swallow thickly and crane your neck to look at the balcony. You don’t see Asami. “Hello, Hiroshi,” you say softly.

He hesitates a little before speaking again. “I… I owe you an apology. I was hoping you would let me give it to you. In person, I mean.”

You’re more than a little surprised. “You’ll have to forgive me but I have to ask, why?”

“I realize you have no reason to trust me-”

“No, I really don’t,” you agree.

“But,” he continues, “if you would humor me anyway I would be indebted to you.”

He sounds sincere, but you’re understandably wary. “You do realize how dubious this sounds, right?”

He chuckles humorlessly. “I do, and yet I’m asking anyway.” You frown, considering his words for a moment before he adds, “Look, obviously you’re important to Asami. And while I might not have been such a great father for” -he huffs- “a long time… I would like to make amends in some small way. For her.”

You’re not sure you believe him, but you’d like to. “Okay. Where and when?”

“I’d like to see what you’ve done with zone twenty-four. Is it alright if I meet you there this afternoon? Say, in an hour?”

“Fine,” you say hastily.

“Thank you. And Korra?” You hum absentmindedly in answer. “If you don’t mind, could you refrain from telling Asami? Just for now.” 

You narrow your eyes in suspicion. “ _For now_. I _will_ tell her, though.” You hear Asami start to descend the stairs and you stand from the couch.

“Of course. Goodbye, Korra.”

“Bye,” you say as you end the call. 

Asami drops a backpack by the door and walks over. “Who was that?” She slides her hands around your waist from behind. You love the way she’s already so comfortable touching you. 

You lean into her touch and say as casually as you can, “Nobody, I just have to be at the site by four-thirty.” It’s not _lying_ , you tell yourself. It’s just delaying when you tell her truth. Which you _will_. 

Asami hums and then grazes your ear lightly with her lips. “You’d better get going, then.”

You groan. “You’d better stop doing that, then.”

“Doing what?” she asks innocently before nipping lightly at a spot behind your ear.

“Asami,” you whine.

You feel her sigh against your neck. “You’re right.” She pulls away and you turn around. “Can I text you later if it’s not too late?”

“Even if it is,” you say. Asami grabs her backpack and you follow her into the hall. After she locks the door you slip your hand into hers and out of the corner of your eye you see her brighten and smile happily. 

Asami hesitates when she reaches her car and tugs on your hand to take it in both of hers. She leans against her car door and you look down at your feet, which are on either side of hers. She’s wearing her jacket and jodhpurs again, contrasting ridiculously with your sweatpants and sneakers. She rubs her thumbs across your knuckles. “I’m really glad you came over.”

You chuckle. “Me too. Have a safe flight.”

She wraps a hand gently around the back of your neck and brings you in for a breathless kiss that has you dazed well after she’s already driven away. 

When you arrive at the reserve - in your least dirty pair of jeans - you find Kuvira kneeling close to the river bank, a stainless steel tray filled with dirt next to her and a spade in her hand. “Taking some samples?” you ask in lieu of greeting her.

She doesn’t look up at your arrival. “Yeah, now that all this is finally done,” -she gestures vaguely to the generator- “I can do some research and actually _use_ that degree I spent all my money on.”

“Where’s Baatar?”

“He went back to his day job at Varrick Global. Now that the generator is finished, his job is done. He’ll still be around to help maintain it, but that’s about it.” She stands and wipes her brow with the back of her arm, keeping her dirt covered hands away from her face. “Have you collected any specimens yet?”

You shrug. “A couple of insects but I don’t have a great place to store them. I haven’t gotten my diving gear yet either so I haven’t done any observing in the river. I definitely spotted some bala sharks the other day though, so that’s pretty exciting.”

You expect Kuvira to say something sarcastic about your definition of exciting, but she doesn’t. Instead she sighs with a soft smile and says, “We have a lot of work to do, don’t we?”

You grin. “Yeah, we do.”

She nods. “Good. It was really hard to look beyond all of this and think about what’s next. Speaking of which, apparently Shyo has been getting calls about the turbine. Other people are interested in seeing if it’ll work for other hydroelectric generators.”

“We should probably keep some office hours so people can actually talk to _us_.”

Kuvira shakes some of the dust off her shirt and khakis. “Yeah, I guess so. And we should probably make our office a, y’know, _office_ and not just an empty floor.”

“Wanna go to IKEA tomorrow? Play office?”

Kuvira bats her eyelashes dramatically and claps her hands together. “Oh _could_ _we_?”

You laugh but then Kuvira straightens and narrows her eyes. “Who’s that?”

You follow her eyeline to see a lone figure trekking across the meadow. Hiroshi.

When he makes it to you he greets you politely, “Korra, very nice to see you.”

“Hiroshi,” you say with a nod. “This is my partner, Kuvira.”

Kuvira wipes the dirt from her hand on her pants and very stiffly shakes his hand. You catch the almost imperceptible eyebrow raise she gives you.

“I’ll talk to you later,” you assure her, and she nods. You start to walk away and Hiroshi trails behind you without a word.

After you’re far enough away to not be overheard by Kuvira you turn to him. “So?” you prompt.

He’s letting his gaze sweep across the meadow in all directions, taking everything in. “This is impressive.”

“Thank you,” you say shortly.

“I can’t say I knew what to expect from a nature reserve. I thought perhaps it would be untouched land. But there is a significant amount of construction happening.”

You nod. “We discovered that we actually achieved greater biodiversity and total land area if we broke up it up into several smaller reserves. This allows us to create buffer zones between the reserve and the neighborhood that borders it to the north east.” You point around the site as you explain. “Besides, it allows us to create trails for people to enjoy while simultaneously protecting the area.”

Hiroshi is looking at you intently, much like Asami does when she’s listening. It’s unsettling. “If the areas are smaller, how do you keep animals from wandering?”

“We don’t really. We’re creating protected pathways called wildlife corridors that allow animals to move between areas. Helps promote biodiversity, as I mentioned before.”

Hiroshi nods to show he’s following. “And when you say “ _we_ discovered,” you mean…?”

“Uh,” you hesitate. “Me, I guess. I discovered. With some of the students from the university that are helping out.”

Hiroshi purses his lips. “I must admit Korra, I’ve judged you wrongly. You’re obviously very talented and the right person to develop the land.”

You blink slowly. “Frankly, I couldn’t really care less what you think.”

He chuckles with surprising lightness. “That’s probably fair. I would still like to apologize for my behavior a few weeks ago. It wasn’t fair to you.”

You fold your arms against your chest. “I’m sure you realize that it isn’t me you should be apologizing to.”

“Well, no, not only to you,” he concedes, “but I have to start with the smaller things before I can even attempt to make things right with Asami.”

“Why the change of heart?”

Hiroshi suddenly looks years older. “Two years ago, when everything came out about the mecha suits, I lost everything.” You open your mouth to interrupt, but he holds up a hand. “I realize I do not deserve any of your pity, considering my...”

“War profiteering,” you supply. 

He grimaces. “As you say. When my wife died, I felt as if I only had my work left. I didn’t understand how to provide for Asami’s… emotional needs, so I did the thing I did best. The thing I was good at.”

Hiroshi is gazing out at the scenery as he speaks. “Then I was forced to step down from Future Industries, and Asami had shunned me, and suddenly I had neither of my legacies.”

You bristle a little at the idea that Asami is just his legacy, but he amends his statement, “That’s not- I don’t mean… I lost my daughter, but I had really lost her some time ago and I didn’t realize until after I was home, alone, with nothing to do and no one to talk to.”

“So you decided to exert your control in any way you could in an attempt to stay relevant,” you bite out.

He focuses on you again, his eyes slightly narrowed and he says slowly, “If you want to put it that way, I suppose. I was _trying_ to guide my daughter into becoming the CEO that I was- which was, in a word, successful. But I felt the only way I could do that was from the shadows.” He frowns deeply and averts his gaze again. “I didn’t realize until I had heard about your endeavors and about her plans for a factory that I realized she would never be me. As the former CEO, I didn’t trust her judgement. Which is not how a father behaves.”

His sentiments aren’t perfect, but for Hiroshi it’s something. “So, why are you coming to me?” you ask.

He smiles ruefully. “Because as terrible as I might be at it, I am still her father. But I’ve failed so completely at it, I can’t make amends. She won’t accept my help. She obviously cares about you and your project and I want… I want to support that. I want to support something she cares about, if I can’t support her directly.”

“Meaning?”

“I think it’s time that I get away from Republic City for a little while. I’ve sold the mansion, it’s filled with nothing but bad memories anyway and I know Asami wants nothing to do with it.” He digs into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a slip of paper. “I’d like to offer you that money to help maintain your nature preserve. Or perhaps to expand it in some way, whatever you see fit.” He hands you the paper - a check - and you unfold it.

That’s a lot of zeros.

You’re speechless for a long beat while Hiroshi watches you expectantly. You think of all the possibilities this money could provide. You think about the potential this space has for research and preservation. You think about the educational programs you could fund.

You clear your throat. “I’m not sure I can accept this.” Hiroshi’s face falls a little before he dons a resigned expression. “I will consider it though, and talk about it with my partner and Asami.”

Hiroshi perks up a little at that. “That seems reasonable.”

You put your hand out to shake his. “I wish you luck, wherever it is that you’re headed.”

He accepts your outstretched hand with a surprised smile. “Thank you. I’m not entirely sure where that is yet, but I’m looking forward to finding out.” He releases your hand and asks, “Can I ask you for one more favor?”

You hum your approval and he reaches back into his coat pocket. “I have a letter for Asami.” He pulls out a wrinkled envelope with a red, wax seal. “I don’t know if she’ll read it, and I doubt it’s enough, but I have to give it a try.”

You gingerly take the envelope and tuck it away in your pocket with the check. “I’ll give it to her.”

He nods and smiles sadly. “Thank you, Korra.” He starts to walk away but then stops and looks at you over his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do a much better job than I ever did, but still. Take care of her.”

You nod once and he walks away without looking back. You let out a long breath. You don’t think you’ve ever made a promise so easily.

\--

You’re not sure who invented the Allen wrench - presumably someone named Allen - but they should be shot. You curse as your grip slips _again_ , and from behind a huge pile of cardboard boxes you hear Kuvira laugh.

“Shut up, you’re not doing much better,” you grumble. 

You see her head pop up and she makes a show of inspecting your work. “No, but at least I have one desk built. How’s yours coming?”

You frown. “I put the top drawer on backwards.”

She disappears again with another chortle. “How does that even _happen_? Drawers only go one way!”

You pick up the instruction booklet for the hundredth time, which is now hopelessly crinkled. “What’s so great about a desk, anyway? The floor is great. There’s so much room!”

The elevator announces its arrival softly and Bolin and Asami file in, carrying a long box between them. “We found this in the lobby,” Asami says. “I assume it’s yours?”

“Asami!” you say in surprise. “I thought you weren’t getting in until tomorrow morning!”

She and Bolin set down the box, and even though you had _just_ bought everything, you don’t remember what it is. You stand when Asami walks over and gives you a quick peck on the cheek that makes you grin. “I finalized the deal a little early, so I thought I’d come back today.”

“I’m not complaining.”

She looks around. “Where’s Kuvira?”

“Over here.” Kuvira peeks her head out from behind the boxes and waves. “Hi, Asami.”

“Oh hey, Bolin! I’m glad you’re here,” you greet Bolin enthusiastically. You jog over to the window, where you have a small tank of water.

“You are?” he asks as you walk back over and present it to him. “A fish?”

“Not just any fish, a bala shark!” you say proudly. 

“It’s a _shark_?” He holds up the tank to his wide eyes and inspects the tiny minnow.

“Er, no, it’s a fish. It’s just called that, I guess, because it sort of looks like a shark. But!” you say more excitedly, “They’re endangered. I’m studying them and I was hoping you would take care of this one for me.”

Bolin gasps, long and loud. “I get to _keep_ it?”

“Yeah, it’s from the river. Turns out it’s absolutely teeming with bala shark. I’m hoping we can find out a bit more about them, see if there’s more we can do to take care of these guys elsewhere in the world. So, will you do it?”

Bolin is struggling to contain his huge grin. He salutes dramatically. “I _absolutely_ will.”

You smile. “Great! Here’s some stuff about how to take care of it, but just let me know if you want any help.” You hand him a slip of paper with the necessary aquarium size and temperature and he studies it closely. 

Bolin hands the small bowl to Asami for a moment to scoop you into a bruising hug. “Thanks, Korra.” You pat him on the shoulder with the hand that isn’t pinned to your ribs. He lets you go and scoops up the bowl. “Come on, Pabu!” He rushes back into the elevator without another word.

Once the doors close you say, “Maybe I should have told him it’s a girl.”

“Hey!” Kuvira playfully scolds, standing up. “Don’t force your gender expectations on Pabu.”

You laugh and Asami looks around the office, observing. “It’s going really well, I see. How long have you guys been at it?”

Three hours.

“Don’t answer that,” you tell Kuvira loudly. “Not that long,” you say to Asami with false casualness.

Asami rolls her eyes. “Well, since you guys are doing so well I guess you don’t need me.” She places a hand on her hip and adds, “The engineer.”

Kuvira shoves you lightly as she walks past. “Shut up, Korra.” She places an arm around Asami’s shoulders and leads her to the disaster of wooden planks and boxes. “As long as you know how a drawer works I think you would be a _wonderful_ asset.”

“Your standards are really low,” Asami observes.

Kuvira shoots you a grin over her shoulder. “Our talent pool is really small.”

Asami sets to work putting your desk into a more desk-like state. Occasionally she hands you a couple of pieces with specific instructions on how to put them together, but for the most part she puts it together herself. 

“Are you sure you designed a revolutionary new turbine?” she teases. 

You grimace. “No one said I did it _well_.”

She stops and looks at you with a gentle smile and says, “I did,” before focusing on ripping the next box open. 

That makes you feel a little better and for the next hour the three of you talk quietly and listen to music through Kuvira’s tinny phone speakers. Bit by bit the office comes together with desks, chairs, shelving and cabinets. You’re watching everything come together, this new venture that you and Kuvira could only dream of late at night in your shared dorm room. This room is a product and a catalyst for all your hard work, and it gives you so much _hope_ and e _xcitement_ for what’s next. Your future with Kuvira, with this company, and with Asami.

You don’t realize you’ve disappeared into a daydream until Asami unconsciously slips her fingers between yours while she scans the instructions of a completely necessary, if rather extravagant, purchase: an espresso machine. It had cost more than any one piece of furniture you’d purchased, but Kuvira had agreed that you both deserve it. Damn right you do.

You squeeze her hand gently and she looks down in surprise before she meets your eye with a shy smile. You wonder what it would take for Kuvira to leave you two alone.

The elevator doors open again with a ding and out steps Baatar, whom you’ve never been more happy to see.

“Hey,” he says to the room, but it’s clear that he only has eyes for Kuvira.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Kuvira unfolds her legs and stands. 

He looks confused for a moment and looks at his watch. “Uh, I thought we were having dinner?”

You _love_ Baatar right now. 

Kuvira’s eyes widen. “Holy shit, it’s already seven?” She looks guiltily back at you and Asami, eyeing the huge mess you’ve created. 

You give her the most casually reassuring smile you can. “Go, have dinner. We’ll finish up. We can always finish tomorrow if we get tired.”

Kuvira smiles gratefully and walks past you to grab her phone and jacket. She ruffles your hair lightly as she passes. “See you.”

“I won’t wait up!” you shout as you pat your mussed hair back down. 

“Neither will I!” she returns as the elevator doors close. 

The silence is deafening. There’s no more music and without the extra person it feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room.

You still have your fingers around Asami’s and you sigh deeply before letting go and standing. “I have to tell you something.”

Asami’s brow furrows and she stands as well. “That’s ominous.”

“I saw your dad,” you blurt. 

Asami’s eyes widen only a fraction, and her face drops all expression. You continue, “He came to the reserve yesterday. He wanted to apologize.” 

“What?” Asami breathes.

You walk back to the window where you’ve laid your jacket on the floor. You scoop it up and reach into a pocket. “He came to see what we had done and apologized for how he’d blown up at me. He said a lot of other stuff too, but that’s probably covered in this letter.” You pull the envelope out. It’s a little more wrinkled, but when you show it to her with the wax seal side up, her face flashes recognition.

“Why didn’t you tell me when I called you last night?” she asks, not accusingly, but curiously. 

“I wanted to tell you in person. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Asami runs her fingers through her hair. “I’m not upset. I think it’s pretty unusual, but I’m not upset.” 

“He offered to make a donation to the nature reserve. A substantial one.” You tug out the check from your jacket and hold it out to her. She crosses over to you in a few, quick strides and takes it from you. “Why?” she says in a whisper.

“I expect he explains in this.” You hold out the letter. “He said he wasn’t sure you’d be willing to read it, but I told him I would give it to you. I also told him that I wouldn’t accept the money unless you agreed.”

She purses her lips. “You told Kuvira?”

“Not yet, but I’m willing to bet she won’t have many objections.” You grin a little and Asami does her best to mirror it with a small curl of her lips. You take her hand gently, and she steps closer to you without hesitation. “I won’t accept it if you aren’t comfortable.”

She doesn’t say anything for several long beats, but then she smiles genuinely. “No, you should accept. You could do so much good with this, and it’s time that he did _something_ good.”

“He did,” you say softly. 

It takes a second for her to realize what you’ve said, but when she does she smirks. “Sap.”

“Don’t tell Kuvira; I have a reputation to maintain,” you say as you look down at your linked hands. You loosen your grip and let your fingers explore her hand. She has long, slender fingers and you find a thin burn scar behind her middle finger. You trace the gentle ridge of it and she shivers. “I missed you,” you mumble.

She slips her hand out of yours and when you look back up at her face she’s wearing an amused expression. “You missed me? You didn’t talk to me for two weeks and _now_ you miss me?” she says playfully, poking you lightly in the side.

You flinch away with a giggle. “Well, I missed you before too, but now I get to do this,” you say before kissing her briefly.

“Oh, is _that_ the incentive you need to call me?” She gives you a mock scowl. 

You only smile wider. “Yep. And this,” -you pull her hair away from her neck and leave a gentle, open mouthed kiss- “and this,” -you pinch her ass and she squeaks in surprise- “and this,” -you scoop her legs out from under her and her arms wrap around your neck automatically and she laughs more freely than you’ve ever heard before- “and thi-”

She cuts you off with a slow, heady kiss that leaves your head spinning and a goofy smile on your lips. When she pulls back and looks at you with lidded eyes you’re hers. You were probably always hers. “You’re beautiful,” she breathes.

You blush _hard_ at that, because you know that you have a good body, but it’s not often that you feel _beautiful_. And Asami, who is sexy and hot and so, _so_ beautiful thinks you’re beautiful too.

You hardly know where you’re going, but you manage to carry her to the desk she built and sit her on it. She turns and lets you stand between her legs and you put your hands on the small of her back and quickly pull her to the edge, closer to you, which makes her gasp. The mood changes instantly. You flick your tongue against hers and she rolls forward against you once before you kiss along her jaw and trace the shell of her ear with your lips. She hums breathlessly, and you graze her neck with your teeth and feel her fingers in your hair. 

“Fuck,” she moans and her nails trail down the back of your neck and scrape along the back of your shoulders. You shiver. She’s arching against you, her arms still around your neck and pulling you towards her as she leans backwards. You have to fit your knee between her legs to follow her and the desk creaks when you climb on top, chasing her lips. It’s awkward, but then her fingers are under your shirt and you couldn’t care less.

You run a hand up her thigh while your other hand holds you up. Her cold fingers are mapping the ridges of your abdomen, and you hiss when she brushes a particularly sensitive spot. She smiles against your lips, and in retaliation you change your focus to her neck. You start to suck a bruise onto her skin and she moans so loudly that you accidentally bite her and _that_ makes her buck against you so hard that you lose your balance. Your elbow hits the desk hard, making you wince, and the desk shudders and groans loudly under the sudden force. 

You feel the top shift against the legs of the table, and suddenly the legs lose their grip and crumple. Asami’s eyes widen and you let your body settle on top of her while the desk jerkily collapses onto the ground. 

There’s a long beat of silence where you and Asami are both just looking at each other, shocked. Asami’s eyes crinkle at the corners just before she lets out a long peal of laughter. You can feel her body shake beneath you and you let your head fall against her and chuckle into her shoulder. 

After a moment you roll off to the side and inspect the splintered remains of your desk. Asami follows you and stands by your side, still laughing. “We’re better at destroying things than we are at building them,” she observes. 

You smile and lace her slender fingers that fit you so well with yours. “That’s really saying something, because we’re pretty great at building things together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> osmrice, osmrice, does whatever a beta can. Spins a web any size, catches commas just like flies LOOK OUT here comes the osmrice
> 
> Thanks for all of your kindness here and on [tumblr](http://www.golarisa.tumblr.com). It's humbling and motivating. See you very shortly for the epilogue.
> 
> Edit 1/9: I forgot to add some [reference pictures](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/136943669510/some-references-for-chapter-ten-heres-pabu-the) for those interested in Korra's reserve or Pabu.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra, a year later.

You had never minded sleeping alone. You’d actually always really liked it. You would spread out across your queen sized bed as much as you wanted. You had all of the covers to yourself. You never had to worry about disturbing someone when you’d decided to bring your laptop to bed or when you’d wanted to read.

Admittedly, you could count on one hand the number of people you’ve ever shared a bed with, and two of those people were your parents. It’s hard to miss the presence of another person when you had never really had it before. 

Now, however, tucked against Korra’s shoulder and your legs tangled with hers, you wonder how you could ever have enjoyed sleeping alone at all. 

Sometimes she crowds you, but she never minds when you warm your cold fingers on her hot skin. And you never fight over the blanket because most of the time she sleeps with only a corner of it across her stomach. And yes, she is too distracting to really be able to work or read, but when you’re in bed together it’s not like you really want to do either of those things anyway. _1984_ has sat with your bookmark in the same place on your nightstand for the past eight months.

None of it really matters though, because you get to wake up with her, which is your favorite thing in the world. 

Her fingers are in your hair and occasionally you can feel her twitch a little in her sleep. She’s snoring softly and you really want to wake her, but you know you shouldn’t. It’s going to be a busy day and she should rest. But of course, as soon as you slip your fingers out from under her shirt you hear her snort gently before pulling you closer. She buries her face in your hair and you giggle against her chest. “Good morning.”

“Mmm… orning…” she murmurs.

“Are you ready for today?” you ask excitedly. You’ve been waiting for this day for over a year. This is so important to both of you and you’re practically buzzing with excitement. You don’t know how she’s so calm. 

She pulls back and focuses on your face with some effort. “What about me right now tells you that I’m ready for anything other than more cuddling?” She’s incredibly cute, with her hair - it’s getting surprisingly long - fanned out around her and her sleepy eyes looking at you like you’re her whole world. She makes you feel safe and free, strong and vulnerable and a million other paradoxes that only make sense when you’re with her. 

You kiss her. You can do it whenever you want and you put that to the test whenever possible. It’s gentle and lazy and _handsy_. 

Not that you mind. You had spent most of your life with minimal physical contact from your dad and friends. Now that you have Korra you can’t seem to get enough of touching and being touched by her. You love the feeling of her hands exploring your body and the way she makes you feel wanted, beautiful and _loved_. 

Because you are. She tells you often enough that it’s as simple as breathing. Sometimes it comes when you expect it, like when she’s kissing you goodbye as you get off the elevator at your floor. Or like when you surprise her with a week long vacation to visit her parents in the south. Or like when she’s holding you gently but firmly and you’re coming around her fingers with a cry. 

But it also comes when you don’t expect it, like when you’re doing paperwork and she’s drawing on the floor while leaning against your legs. Or like when you’re eating an apple and you playfully stick the little round sticker on her forehead before taking a bite. Or like when you’ve both finished your morning run and she’s breathless and sweaty and you know her lungs are burning just like yours. 

And every time it’s so earnest and tender there’s no room for doubt that you want to spend the rest of your life hearing it from her. 

You spend a few minutes kissing ‘I love you’ onto her skin while she giggles and squirms and these are your favorite mornings. You aren’t rushed, you aren’t tired, you’re just together and lazy and in love. 

Until the phone on the wall rings.

You huff against her stomach in frustration, making Korra laugh harder, and clamber over her to reach the phone. 

“Hello?”

“Sorry to disturb you, Ms. Sato,” the pilot says. “But we’re making our final approach.”

“Okay, thank you.”

You hang up and look down at Korra whom you’ve straddled, her hands resting gently on your hips. “What’s up?” she asks. 

“We’re here,” you answer and her eyes widen and she bucks _hard_ and throws you off, sending you sprawling onto the bed. “ _Korra_!” you yelp in surprise.

She bounds up and runs to the cabin door in just her shorts and muscle shirt. “What are you waiting for? Come on!” She throws open the door and a gust of warm air whips past her and into the room.

You follow her out and find her on the deck of the airship, peering over the railing at the ground below. You join her and almost gasp when you see the factory, _your_ factory, gleaming in the desert sun. 

To the east you can see your forest of wind turbines spinning and the shadows of Korra’s desert habitats that surround the factory. It’s a long octagon, a shape proposed by Kuvira when she had found a depression in the desert that could perfectly house the factory as long as you built it in a particular way. It had saved Future Industries months of aggressive digging and grading, as well as millions of dollars, so you’d thanked her with an all expenses paid vacation to Ember Island. Baatar had proposed while she was slathering lotion over his burnt shoulders and she had accepted without hesitation. 

She and Baatar will be waiting for you to land, having come several days ahead of you to oversee things while you and Korra had gone to see her parents. You had been surprisingly nervous, but you needn’t have been. Her parents welcomed you with open arms, delicious food and tales of Korra’s childhood. Even Korra’s dog, Naga, had been very affectionate, and you immediately began to make plans in your head to bring her to Republic City to live with you and Korra.

It felt like _family_ , which is new and terrifying but after a week you’re confident you could get used to it. 

There are several green trucks close to the factory and you can barely make out the words ‘Cabbage Corp’ displayed across the sides. The workers are carrying large pallets that you know are filled with your large capacity battery prototypes. After Korra and Kuvira had hired Baatar to work for Greater Unity Consulting he had immediately set to work with you on the battery problem. You’d struggled with it for months, but you’d finally been able to come to Cabbage Corp with a solution, and they upheld their end of the deal by manufacturing them.

Korra slips her arm around your waist and you lean into her a little. “How does it feel?” she asks as she presses a kiss just above your ear. 

“Surreal,” you answer.

The airship lands and the first person you see is Kuvira, who looks exhausted but happy. Korra is the first off the ramp and she immediately pulls Kuvira into a tight hug. Korra turns her head and blows a raspberry into Kuvira’s cheek; Kuvira hastily releases Korra and wipes her face with mock irritation. 

“And to think I actually missed you,” you hear Kuvira grumble over the sound of the airship. When she turns to you she brightens significantly. “You, however, I _definitely_ missed!”

“Oh?” you say, pleasantly surprised.

She claps her hands over both your shoulders. “Oh my god, I am so tired, how do you do this all the time?”

You laugh. “I take it you’re tired of being in charge.”

“You have no idea.” She takes a large step to the side and makes a sweeping gesture with her arm. “Your castle awaits.”

As soon as you step into the building you’re swarmed by people. You can’t even make it to your in-factory office - you have to stop in the cafeteria and commandeer one of the long tables so that you can sign papers and give directions. 

Shyo finds you - looking harried and more tired than you’ve ever seen him - and he launches into an explanation of all the troubles he’s had the past few days and it’s enough to make your head spin. He’s interrupted though when Bolin, brimming with energy, pushes through the throng of people and hugs you hard. 

“I’m so glad you’re here! This is _amazing_.” He motions with his arms wide.

Shyo shoulders in front of him with an impatient look. “As I was saying, we have a couple of issu-”

Your phone rings, and Shyo looks as if he wants to snap your phone in half when you pull it out of your pocket. It’s Lau Gan-Lan’s assistant. You give Shyo an apologetic look and shove the phone into Bolin’s hands. “Here, answer that and put them on hold, okay?”

Bolin nods and answers the phone. “Ms. Sato’s phone, can you hold please?” He looks down at the phone, his fingers hovering over the keys and a confused look on his face before he brings the phone back up to his ear and starts humming something that sounds vaguely like The Rolling Stones. 

You roll your eyes - you can’t believe he hasn’t figured out how to put someone on hold on anything other than his Blackberry - and motion for Shyo to continue. 

Shyo is watching Bolin, looking nonplussed. “Is that “Paint It Black”?” You make a ‘hurry up’ gesture and he clears his throat. “Right, sorry. Anyway…”

You try to give Shyo all of your attention, but it’s hard to focus when you can hear Bolin a few feet away. “Thank you for holding, your call is very important to us. _Hmm hm hmh mh mm_ …”

\--

It’s hours before you’re able to have a moment to yourself again. You’d put out all the fires you could before meeting Gan-Lan to finalize production plans. Then you’d held a press conference outside the factory with all of the reporters that had gathered outside of the front gate.

Now most of the workers have gone home and you’re finally, _finally_ alone. 

Before you had met Korra you would have wanted to find a quiet corner to eat whatever you could scrounge up and disappear until the morning. Now though, you haven’t seen Korra since you landed and all you want is to find her. 

Thankfully, you know exactly where she is.

You find her in the middle of her favorite part of the desert habitat. She’s planting a new cactus. It’s wide with large, flat pads and reddish yellow flowers. 

“Got something new?” you ask. “I haven’t seen one of these before.”

She looks up and even in the darkness, with only the factory floodlights providing light, you can still see those bright blue eyes flash. “Yeah. They arrived a few days ago with my name on them. Kuvira assumed that I had ordered them.”

“But you didn’t?”

She shakes her head. “No, they’re kind of rare. They only grow natively on Crescent Island.” She stands for a moment and dusts off her hands. She tilts her head slightly and just observes you for a moment. You’re used to it at this point, and you know she sees right through you. “Where was his last letter from?”

You run your fingers through your hair with a sigh. “The Fire Nation Capital. But that was a few weeks ago.”

She nods knowingly. “Thank him for me when you write him next? These are… really nice, actually. The fruit is delicious and they’re really easy to propagate. You just have to break off one of the pads and then plant them.” She runs a thumb over one of the pads gently, carefully avoiding the small thorns. “He sent me like eight of them.”

“I will,” you promise. For the last few months you and your father have continued to trade letters, starting with the one he gave Korra. It isn't enough, and you’re not sure it’ll ever be enough, but he’s trying, and you’re willing to try a little too. 

She walks alongside you as you head back to the factory and you take her hand. It’s a little gritty from dirt but you don’t care. “What time do you leave tomorrow?”

She hums a little. “Eight. I decided to take a later flight so I could have breakfast with you before I leave. My class starts at three, so as long as I head there straight from the airport I should be fine.”

You hold the door open for her and follow her inside the factory. “You don’t want to be late on your first day.”

She chuckles. “I was late all the time when I was in school, I don’t know why I should change now.”

“You’re going to be a great influence on those kids,” you deadpan. 

“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase, ‘do what I say, not what I do’? That’s the first rule on my syllabus.”

Your laugh echoes throughout the large, empty factory floor. You walk a few more meters before she stops you with a tug on your hand. 

“Asami,” she says seriously as she looks down at your hand and plays with your fingers. She always does that when she’s considering how best to say something. “This… this is incredible. Look at this! I love you so much and I’m so damn _proud_ of you.” 

She sets her hands on your hips and you feel tears prick behind your eyes. You can’t believe how lucky you are. This kind, intelligent, funny, _amazing_ woman loves you, and you love her. In a little over a year she’s launched a successful company, built a beautiful nature reserve from the ground up and is now teaching an ecology class at one of the best schools in the world. You’re so proud of _her_ too. But you know this isn’t the moment to tell her, so you simply accept the compliment.

“Thank you… I really couldn’t have done it without you.” She smiles shyly. “I love you too. So much, Korra, you have no idea.”

She kisses you gently. “I think I have some idea.” When she pulls away after several slow seconds she asks, “So, what now?”

You shrug. “I was going to grab something to eat; I’m starving.”

She smiles in your favorite way, softly and just a little crooked and reserved for the quiet moments when there’s no one and nothing but the two of you. “Would you like some company?” 

You grin and take her hand again, letting your fingers settle together naturally. 

“I think I’d like that.”

\--End--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the ride, I had a lot of fun writing it.
> 
> [Here](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/137118237625/epilogue-references-asamis-factory-is-based-on) are the references for the epilogue, including a picture of Asami's factory.
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr](http://golarisa.tumblr.com/post/137118462905/company-chapter-11-golari-avatar-legend-of) where I posted a much longer sign off. tldr; You guys are amazing, thank you so, so much. My beta osmrice is amazing, thank her the most. The #golariwrites tag is home to everything writing related, one-shots and future stuff alike.


End file.
